The Sinner
by Torenza
Summary: AU.InuKag. We all know that Pirates have existed since the dawn of the ship age, and we all know that they sail the seven seas with feather hats, hook hands and the occasional muttered “Aaaargh!” Or at least... they’re supposed to...
1. Happy Birthday, Ori

**Disclaimer**: I own Inuyasha. I do. I swear. I have seventeen books, 1-166 episodes and several soundtracks. I call that owning some serious Inuyasha if I do say so myself.

Ok... Inuyasha totally pwns me.

**Author's Notes: **Right, the fic was deleted so I'm uploading it again, chapter by chapter. There is no new chapter, I'm just uploading what was already there before, so feel free to ignore this.

* * *

**The Sinner**

**Chapter One**

**Happy Birthday, Ori**

Kagome stood at the bow of "The Enchantress", bracing her hands against the railing and letting the wind tumble through her hair. If she leant just far enough forward, she lost sight of the ship beneath her… and that was when she felt like she was flying over the water. It was just her, the wind, the ocean and the enormous sky over her head that seemed to stretch from the horizon to infinity. She was in a world of her own…

That was until her mobile rang.

"Urgh…" She reached down into her pocket, disgruntled with her shattered illusion of tranquillity as she popped the phone open and pressed it to her ear. "Hello?"

"So how's the cruise going?" The unmistakable motherly tone reached her through the crackling connection. As per usual, her mother had that underlying amusement in her voice - the humour she seemed to possess whenever she spoke about dear Hojo. On cue, her next comment matched her tone. "Scratch that, how are things between you and dear Hojo?"

"Oh, they're great, Mama." Kagome told her earnestly as she wandered away from the bow of the ship and drifted back along the deck, past the crowd of sunbathers around the outdoor swimming pool. "We're having the time of our lives here. The entertainment is wonderful - the food is to die for - and Hojo has been the perfect gentleman throughout!"

"Glad to know you're having fun." Her mother sounded pleased. "So you're not sea sick?"

"Not yet, at least." Kagome told her as she padded, barefoot, down the steps towards the large set of steel doors that led her inside. Rich, velvety carpet massaged her toes and she smiled at a pleasant elderly couple that were passing by. "Honestly, the ship is so steady that I hardly feel like we're on water at all."

"And what are you doing now?"

"Going to meet Hojo in the cinema. I'm not sure what we're going to see but he says it should be good." She trusted Hojo's judgement. "I better ring off so they'll let me inside - but I'll call you tonight and tell you about it."

"Ok, Honey. Glad you're enjoying yourself."

Kagome grinned. "Me too! Catch you later, Mama!"

"Bye, Honey!"

Kagome shut the phone off and slipped it back into her pocket.

By now she'd spent just about ten days on the cruise ship, so she knew her way around pretty well. Meaning she only got turned around once on her way to the cinema… not that it was her fault - the ship was _vast_. There were mirrors down every corridor, making everything seem larger or longer than it really was, thus adding to everyone's confusion. But everything was like that - rich, lavish, and way over the top.

That's what you got for being on a millionaires' cruise.

Of course, Kagome was no millionaire - Hojo's grandfather was, however. The young couple had been dating for just over a year now, ever since they were fifteen. Obviously, that had touched the old man, considering how most youngster's relationships were over in less than a week. Hojo's grandfather had apparently liked her enough to offer her this cruise with his grandson…

At first, Kagome had wanted to decline. She didn't want to leave her family for six weeks, and she wasn't all that sure what people would say after getting back from six weeks alone with her boyfriend.

But that's when she realised…

The mere thought of taking advantage of a situation like this would never even _cross _poor Hojo's mind. The boy was just happy to be spending time with her… he hadn't a clue that this cruise was presenting Kagome on a platter to him. Not that Kagome wanted to be a platter… the only reason she had agreed to the trip was because she knew that Hojo would respect her wishes for taking the relationship slow.

Her friends called it prudish, but Kagome just wasn't _ready _for that kind of thing. And neither, as it turned out, was Hojo.

Eventually, Kagome found her way to the film with five minutes of adverts to go until the main feature. It was nice being able to just enter without having to buy a ticket. Films were free and there for viewing if you wished to see them or not.

Hojo was sitting somewhere in the middle of the large room, slap bang in the middle if she wasn't mistaken. He was probably the only teenage boy who would _willingly _sit that far forward, rather than sit at the back. She just rolled her eyes lightly and picked her way through the lines of legs to find her seat beside him. Once there, she sat down with a thump and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"I thought you were going to miss it." he whispered to her.

"Never." She smiled, latching onto his arm and leaning her head onto his shoulder. "So what are we watching?"

"Pirates of the Caribbean, I think." he responded quietly.

Kagome stiffened somewhat, but Hojo didn't seem to notice.

_Jeez… Kagome, relax, _she berated herself and forced the tension out of her body. _You can do this_…

Yes. She could watch a pirate movie. Perhaps if Hojo had told her in advance, she would have skipped the offer… but now that she was here, it would be pretty lame to leave, wouldn't it?

Settling down, Kagome leant against Hojo as the opening sequence began. Creepy singing… little children… lots of mist… and… _fire…_

Kagome began to hyperventilate.

This time, Hojo noticed. "Higurashi?" Amazingly, even after having dated for just over a year, he still called her by her last name. "Are you alright? You don't sound well."

She sounded as though she had a tennis ball jammed down her throat. Hastily, Kagome sat up and tried to calm herself down… but by then it was too late. Her heart was racing, her breathing was choppy and she _needed to get out of there!_ With only a small muttered apology to Hojo, she scrambled out of her seat and tripped, staggered and stumbled her way past everyone's legs to the end of the row, not caring whose feet she stepped on in her rush.

Pirates.

Perhaps it was too soon to confront something like this.

Poor Hojo wouldn't have dreamed of bringing her into the cinema if he'd known. Then again, he wouldn't even have dreamt of bringing her on a cruise if he'd known. Kagome hurried out of the theatre with a backward glance, eager to get away from the source of her panic… but by then it was useless. She'd stirred up the memories again, and now the pain was biting at her heart like it was new.

She considered going up on deck to calm herself down with a little ocean air… but that made her stomach turn ever so slightly. No. Right then she just wanted to go home, curl up in bed and cry. So she did the next best thing and returned to her cabin.

Fortunately she had a whole separate cabin from Hojo, so she didn't have to worry about being disturbed. The first thing she did when she arrived in the luxury suite was to pull down the blinds, block out the ocean and put on her complimentary silk blindfold to help her sleep. Pathetically, she slunk into her neatly-made bed and tugged the covers up over her head…

The engines hummed all around her, and outside she could hear the sighing of waves moving against each other.

It had been _four years_ already. Why was this hurting so badly after such a long time? All she could do was put her face in the crook of her arm and cry.

Here she was. On a millionaire's cruise. Crying her eyes out.

She felt silly and ungrateful, and weak because it only took the mere mention of pirates to set her off like this.

Kagome promised herself, through her tears, that tomorrow she would suck it up and deal with it. After all, she owed Hojo too much to ruin their holiday like this. But if he asked, she decided she wouldn't tell him… she didn't think she was able to…

Not after… that…

* * *

It was tense.

Gentle waves lapped at the side of their stationary speed boat, causing the craft to bob lightly on the water. The green felt table set up at the back of the boat was steady enough for the three combatants who sat at it, braced with a hand of cards each. Every now and then, each one of them would lay down a card or pick another up.

"AH!" Sango cried, snapping down her cards. "Rummy!"

"Rummy?!" Miroku blinked at her hand in amazement. "I thought we were playing 21!"

Sango gave him a queer look before they both turned their attention to Inuyasha who sat staring at his cards in bemusement. "What are we playing?"

"Snap?" He shrugged before tossing down his cards with a sigh. "Man, I think I'm getting cabin fever."

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic." Miroku admonished as he picked up the cards and shuffled them again. "We've only been out here for six hours."

Inuyasha tipped his chair back dangerously and let his head fall, regarding the horizon where sky met sea in reverse. Not a single boat, ship, or island could be seen. Everything was deadly quiet and there wasn't a spec of life out there as far as he was aware.

Sango's foot landed on the corner of his seat and he was jerked upright so fast it was a wonder he didn't suffer whiplash. Still, he decided to milk it. "Ow…" He rubbed his neck and glared at her angrily. "What was that for?"

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to tip your chair back?" She raised an eyebrow as she shuffled the cards that she'd obviously taken from Miroku, who sat looking dejected between them (said young man was an infamous cheater so it was never wise to let him deal at cards). "You could crack your skull if you fell."

"Onto what? Water?" Inuyasha ran his claws through his hair, wrinkling his nose at the way the salty air had already made it sticky and clammy. Not only that, but the ragged bandana he had been forced to wear around his head was cramping his ears and muffling his hearing. Not that he was about to take it off… not out in the open when he didn't know just who was watching, even out on the open sea as they were.

Sango began dealing the cards as Inuyasha flicked a lock of sticky hair between his fingers and Miroku twiddled a finger in his ear. Both Sango and Inuyasha glanced at him when he began taking his shirt off. "What are you doing?" their lady friend asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Catching rays." Miroku sighed contentedly, already aware that he was tanned enough to give a saucy wink in Sango's direction. She rolled her eyes and averted her gaze elsewhere, though her cheeks were turning red. Either she burnt fast under the sun or she was getting flustered.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at their antics and pushed away from the table. "When you get skin cancer, don't come running to me." he grumbled as he headed for the front of the boat.

"Inuyasha, trust me – if I got cancer I'd be running to a doctor, not you." Miroku remarked dryly.

Inuyasha pulled a face as he slumped down at the Helm, one hand on the wheel while another rested below the intermittently flashing radar screen. He tapped it with a faint sound of disgruntlement.

"Nothing?" Sango called over.

"Nothing…" he drawled back. "You know, I don't think they're going to come and save us…"

"Don't worry," Miroku reassured him. "This is a well-travelled sea route. Ships come by here all the time… and they all have radars, so the minute they spot us, they'll come to our aid."

"They'll probably think we're an ice berg or something." Sango mumbled.

"In the China Sea?" Miroku shot her an incredulous look.

"Well… uh…" she spluttered helplessly, still unable to look at him directly. "Put your damn shirt back on!"

"It gets so cold at night that by the time they find us we _will _be an iceberg." Inuyasha started kicking his feet against the helm's console. "I'm bored."

Both Sango and Miroku groaned. Those were the dreaded two words that Inuyasha eventually spouted at one time or another. It was hard maintaining his interest, and with the attention span of a toddler, Inuyasha was prone to bouts of boredom. When that happened, his two comrades had to endure his not-so-subtle sighs and irritating claw tapping unless they could get away from him. But as it was, they were stranded on a boat in the middle of the China Sea with the unhappy hanyou, therefore making escape impossible.

"Bored, bored, bored, bored." Inuyasha sighed loudly and began tapping his claws against the radar in time to his feet kicking against the console.

Miroku's smile was fixed and fake when he turned to Sango. "Allow me to just go swim with the sharks." He got up and made for the edge - only to have Sango's hand snag his elbow and jerk him back down.

"You're not leaving me with him." she hissed dangerously. "Now… put - your - shirt - back - on - exclamation mark!"

Needless to say, Miroku was humbled enough to obey.

"Soooo… booored…"

They just rolled their eyes, discreetly plugged their fingers in their ears, and pretended to go to sleep. After a while they didn't need to pretend anymore as the high sun and the midday heat was enough to send even the most wired of people into a light slumber – Inuyasha included.

It was only when the cool, looming shadow of a much larger craft fell over them that anyone stirred.

Inuyasha came round first, blinking in confusion, and about to tell Miroku to get the hell out of his sun. That dazed, slightly angry confusion was replaced with sharp realisation as he discovered that Miroku and Sango were still sleeping and it happened to be a rather large freight that was blocking his light.

"Shit…" he cussed swiftly and got to his feet. "Sango! Miroku! Get off your asses - we have company!"

"Urgh… not the face…" Miroku mumbled sleepily as Sango yawned and sat up beside him. She blinked lazily for a moment or two before her eyes widened upon seeing the freight. "Oh crap…" She punched Miroku in the stomach. "Get up!"

"Ow! What's your… oh crap…"

Before any of them could organise themselves, a rough looking figure high up on the freight's platform appeared at the edge, peering down at them in a rather peevish manner. Both Miroku and Sango gulped slightly. Inuyasha, on the other hand, peevishly peered straight back.

"Uh…" Miroku got to his feet bearing the expression of a child having been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "It seems we're having a little engine trouble, sir."

"Broken?" the stranger inquired.

"No." Miroku called back. "We got turned around and ran out of petrol."

"Do you have any spare that you could lend us?" Sango put in, uneasily. "And maybe some directions?"

The guy on the freight shrugged antisocially. "Come up the ladder and we'll see." He disappeared from sight.

Miroku cursed under his breath. "Damn… I don't trust that guy." he muttered. "Just kinda snuck up on us, didn't he?"

How a freight the size of a small building could 'sneak up' on anyone was beyond most people.

Inuyasha yawned and shrugged his shoulders, making a joint crack somewhere. "I'll go… just in case he's a… you know…"

"Be my guest." Miroku gestured to the freight.

Nimbly, Inuyasha hopped up onto the side of the speed boat and then dropped down into the frigidly cold waters. He surfaced with a gasp and immediately began doggy paddling towards the side of the freight, aiming for the inbuilt ladders that ran intermittently along the craft's length.

Miroku bent down to whisper in Sango's ear. "Remind me to buy him proper swimming lessons when we get back."

"I heard that, you hack!" was the spluttered response.

It didn't take long for Inuyasha to catch hold of the metal bars and start heaving himself up out of the sea. In a moment, he had scaled the side and pulled himself onto the deck of the freight. As he stood up and wrung the moisture from the sleeves of his shirt, he whistled low in his throat. "Wow, these guys are packing a lot." he called back to the other two, surveying the masses of cargo containers stacked around the freight's deck.

The man who'd previously spoken to them was returning from the bridge, accompanied by a young man - possibly a teenager, even. The older man, evidently the guy in charge, was wearing a smirk. "We ain't got no petrol, lad."

"Don't need it. We got loads." Inuyasha said dismissively.

They both stared at him, equally unreadable.

"Seems to be just the two of you…" Inuyasha looked around sceptically, but as far as he could see, the deck was completely devoid of any other human being. Even through the windows, he could see no one on the bridge either.

The captain glared at him. "Didn't your friend just say you needed-"

"Bluffed." Inuyasha flapped a hand before planting it against his hip. "Ahoy, me maties, we're here to plunder your valuables, steal your women and take charge of this vessel – resist, and I'll take you to the gangway and make you walk the plank. These be shark infested waters, after all. Arrgh and all that…"

The captain was staring at him even harder now, but the younger of the pair was beginning to laugh. "He thinks he's a pirate!"

"Oh, I'm not serious…" Inuyasha shrugged it off.

Somewhere behind him, Miroku called out. "Incoming!"

"Thank you!" Inuyasha deftly caught the rifle that had just been hurled up from the speed boat below. It was already locked and loaded, so he aimed it vaguely at the pale duo before him and picked up where he'd left off. "I mean, after all, I can't make you walk the plank because we don't have one and I have my doubts that there are any sharks for miles. However, me and my comrades _are _real pirates and I have a pretty nifty gun, so you'll be obliging me, right?"

Double gulps.

"I bet you're both kicking yourselves for stopping by, huh?"

* * *

"Shit… I think we're going to capsize!" Miroku was laughing with real mirth as they sped across the waves, bouncing at extreme velocity. The trip was made hazardous only by the very large, very orange cargo container that they'd picked up from the freighter. It had been about all they could carry, and the captain had said it was their most precious cargo.

Inuyasha rode on top of it as Sango navigated with a grin and Miroku still laughed, despite having to cling to his seat for his dear life.

Catching a bounty and getting away with it was a natural high, and even Inuyasha had to admit to feeling daring and pleased with himself. It didn't even bother him that they were going back to their base - which meant facing their boss and handing over their prize… but with sixty prime DVD players sitting beneath him, Inuyasha was sure that the boss would have something nice to say to them for a change.

The wind whipped around him, pulling at his unbuttoned shirt and tugging at his hair. His bandana slipped off and in an instant it was lost to the waves, but Inuyasha didn't care. It was a scrap of cloth, easily replaceable. Who cared about cloth when he could tip his chin up, block out the boat beneath him and pretend that he was flying over the waves like an untamed spirit with only the wind to hold him up?

That was until Sango crashed over a particular bulky wave, making everything in their craft jump and sending Inuyasha sprawling to the floor. Things like that just brought him straight back down to earth, especially when Miroku laughed at him like that. "Shut up!" He tossed an empty packet of digestive biscuits at him.

Miroku just ducked and grinned at him. "What day is it today, Inuyasha?"

"Uh… Thursday?" he guessed. He honestly didn't remember the days anymore. When he lived every day the same as the one before, the world beyond the sea was another world entirely. The Landers had their dates and their days of the week, but here not even the most fundamental rule applied. _Here _was just you, the ocean and whatever boat you happened to be riding in.

Only the boss seemed to be in vague touch with the land and it's goings on. How else would he know what kind of cargo they would ship out next? Or which ships to attack and which to not bother with?

The oil rig gradually came into view. First it was a spec of grey of the distant horizon. Then it was a blurred black blob. It grew even more till some of its features were recognisable. It stood on roughly six crane-like legs that disappeared into the water and reached all the way to the ocean floor… a long way down. It had three levels; the docks, the working area, and the cabins and offices on the top floor where the workers slept and the boss worked. It may have once drilled for oil, but that was nearly thirty years ago before they had discovered there was no oil to be had.

Now it was just the base of the most proficient organisation of ocean-born terrorists in the Eastern China Sea.

More commonly known as Pirate HQ.

Most of its roots went all the way to Shanghai, and maybe to Korea, but here - at least two hundred miles from any coast – it was just the pirate roost that Inuyasha had known for most of his life. He didn't even remember the last time he'd set foot on land…

The oil rig loomed over them as Sango finally slowed the engines and drew the speed boast slowly towards to the docks. There was already someone waiting there for them… and on closer inspection it turned out to be Kouga.

It was a battle all in itself to keep Inuyasha's lip from curling.

"Took your time." the wolf demon called out as they neared.

"Our ship didn't show up." Miroku called back.

"Then what's that?" he pointed to the cargo container that Inuyasha had been sitting on.

"A gift from a good Samaritan who tried to help us out instead." Miroku chuckled.

As soon as the boat was moored, its three passengers jumped off and began to stretch out their aching limbs.

"Six hours, man…" Inuyasha grumbled, rolling his shoulders back. "I won't do _that _again in a hurry."

"Oh yeah…" Kouga drawled as Inuyasha mooched past him. "The boss wants to talk to you. Now."

Sango and Miroku both glanced up in concern at Inuyasha… what had he done this time to piss off the boss?

Inuyasha was worried… but he didn't dare show it. Instead he grunted, shrugged, and continue to mooch up the metal grate stairs that led up to the second level, leaving Kouga and his comrades to handle the DVD players.

The boss' office was on the top floor, so Inuyasha had to jog up another set of stairs to get there. He stopped outside a rusty-looking metal door - the type that had its own wheel in order to seal it properly, like in a submarine - and knocked jauntily on the door.

"Come."

Inuyasha took the invite and pulled the door open.

Naraku looked up and fixed him with a penetrating stare for a moment. Inuyasha froze like someone had dumped a vat of liquid nitrogen over his head. But it was only temporary, as Naraku soon turned his eyes away, shuffling his papers and clearing away his work. "Please sit down, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha sat down.

"Do you know what day it is today, Inuyasha?" his boss asked quietly.

"Uh… Monday?" he guessed again, wondering if there was some sort of pattern he'd missed. Hadn't Miroku already asked this question?

Naraku's response was a faint smirk. "You've been here almost all your life, haven't you?"

"As long as I can remember." Inuyasha shrugged easily, eyes straying around Naraku's grey, dreary office. He had to admit, Naraku didn't seem to go in for those homely touches. Even Inuyasha had a little potted cactus beside his bunker. Naraku had… rust stains.

"You are also our youngest pirate."

"I guess…" Inuyasha had forgotten how old he was exactly. He estimated around seventeen or eighteen. Where was this going, anyway?

"As you may or may not have noticed, each member of our… _guild_… has at some time or another acquired themselves a prized possession." Naraku's smile was faint. "I, however, seem to have landed myself with several prized possessions… and I am willing to part with one on behalf of my youngest and most favoured member."

"Uh… me?" Inuyasha scowled. True, he had known Naraku a long time, and out of all the pirates there, he'd probably known him the longest. But that didn't mean they particularly trusted each other, or spoke that often.

"Consider this a seventeenth birthday present." Naraku suddenly dropped a set of keys on the desk that Inuyasha hadn't noticed him holding.

He stared at the keys, mystified.

"Dock C. Allotment eight." Naraku's amusement was already going. "You'll find your present there."

Inuyasha stared at the keys.

Then stared a little more to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him.

"Inuyasha… please leave before I change my mind." Naraku reminded him.

"Oh, right." Inuyasha suddenly snatched the keys up and raced to the door. He only spared a moment to give his boss a hurried thank you before diving out of the office and thundering down the steps.

Pirates were stopping their assignments and duties to watch him all but fly down the steps towards Dock C. Along the way he passed Miroku and Sango, but they couldn't even get a word in edgeways as he tore past them without explanation.

It was there… in Dock C, beside the mooring peg with the faded white number eight…

Only the shiniest, smoothest, most beautiful _yacht _he'd ever seen in his entire life!

An unexpected surge of emotion made the air catch in his throat. He had a yacht. _Finally_!

Normally, one was expected to steal one's own yacht in order to possess one… Miroku had one, Sango had her speed boat, and now he himself had been handed the most splendid looking thing by the boss himself! And for a birthday he hadn't known he'd been expecting.

His two comrades arrived beside him, out of breath and thoroughly confused. "What's going on?" Sango gasped. "Why are you staring at the boss' yacht?"

Inuyasha wordlessly held up the keys, unable to tear his eyes away from the boat. Bold black letters along the hull proclaimed the ship as "The Sinner".

"Jesus…" Miroku's eyes widened. "He _gave _you his boat?!"

"All mine." Inuyasha tottered forward. "Mine, mine, mine… all mine…"

That was basically all he muttered for the next ten minutes or so as he climbed up the ramp onto the boat and began systematically embracing every surface that held still for long enough. Sango blinked in amazement, while Miroku just folded his arms and gazed haughtily in the direction of his own yacht. "Mine's bigger…" he said nonchalantly, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Sango.

"Cut it out." Sango sighed. "It's his birthday after all."

"I know…" Miroku shrugged. "But if I were him… I would sterilise all that before I went hugging it all… it _was _the boss' yacht after all. God only knows what he's done in it."

* * *

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Kagome's forehead wrinkled as she tried to shuffle further down into her bed and ignore the pounding headache she was suffering from. It almost sounded as if someone had taken a jackhammer to her head.

Bang! Bang! Bang! "Higurashi! Are you alright in there? Higurashi?" Bang! Bang! Bang!

Kagome sat up very quickly then. That was no jackhammer - that was Hojo! How long had the poor boy been thumping on the door for her? He was probably worried sick.

Feeling generally yucky all over, Kagome stumbled out of bed and headed over to the door. She pushed up her blindfold belatedly, just as she turned the handle and smiled wearily up at Hojo. "Hi, Hojo." she said sweetly.

"Are you ok, Higurashi?" he asked, looking very concerned for her. "You ran off like you were sea sick."

Ah. The boy had unwittingly just given her an excuse. "Yes… just a bit queasy, but I've taken some medicine and with a good night's rest, I'll be fine tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" The puppy eyes came out.

_Oh for god's sakes, Hojo! I'm not dying!_

"I'm sure." she responded firmly. "But I need my rest, so I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

"Ok."

Slam! Lock! Sigh…

Kagome slumped against the door and surveyed her room through hooded eyes. Great… now she beginning to get snappish at Hojo when it really wasn't his fault. She just had a tender spot close to her heart that the day's events had prodded with a pitchfork.

_Not now… _she thought wearily, _of all times, not now when I'm here to enjoy myself with Hojo…_

She didn't want to remember what had happened.

But on the other hand, she didn't want to forget either.

Her eyes landed on her near-empty suitcase that lay under her bed. Kagome picked herself up and pattered over, kneeling down to open it up and pull out her purse. The purse didn't have much money in it, considering how everything on the ship was complimentary and free (apart from the gift shop). But she wasn't looking for money.

Unsnapping a button, she let the purse fall open…

A flourish of scraps of paper and pictures fell onto her lap. Kagome stared at the scrambled mess before beginning to pick up the pieces and sort through them.

She had pictures of her family mostly, a few of Souta, her mother and Grandpa, quite a few of Buyo and even two of Hojo and herself. Kagome picked these up and carefully slipped them back into the purse… till only one little photo remained in her lap, face down.

On the back was a little smiley face drawn in red ink. His signature…

Kagome's fingers literally shook as she turned the scrap photo over and gazed at its image.

An eleven year old boy gazed back at her. His eyes were cast in shadow by the baseball cap jammed over his head… but a small glint of gold could be caught in those depths. Wisps of snowy hair framed his face, although, the rest must have been tied in a braid behind his back since she was sure she remembered more of it.

It was his eleventh birthday, if the banner behind him was anything to go by. In his hand, he was showing off his new baseball bat - the one ringed in red paint with "Striker!!" scrawled down the side.

The date on the banner in the background matched the current date… and Kagome realised this with a tingle in the pit of her stomach… something like shock and heavy grief rolled into one.

He'd be seventeen exactly today…

If he hadn't been killed in that fire.

Kagome took a shuddering breath and tucked the photo away before she got too emotional. She all but threw the purse back into the suitcase, kicked it under the bed and crawled under the covers to distract herself from the urge to cry.

But even that didn't really work.

"Happy Birthday, Ori…"


	2. The Front Man

**Author's Notes**: Chapter two uploaded... now to pootle on down to chapter 3...

* * *

**The Sinner**

**Chapter Two**

**The Front Man**

Kagome's eyes had always been a little bigger than her mouth. Her first instinct upon finding the 'all you can eat' breakfast buffet was to pile her plate with as much food as possible… then take it back to her table with Hojo and commence picking at the bacon half-heartedly.

"What's the matter, Higurashi? You're normally so enthusiastic about your food." Hojo wondered opposite her, tucking into his scrambled eggs.

Kagome eyed him warily, wondering what he meant by that last comment… purely out of feminine sensitivity, of course. The dear boy probably meant nothing. "I'm ok, Hojo." she responded after a moment and stopped picking at her continental breakfast. "I'm still waiting for my stomach to settle from last night."

"If you want, I can go get you some travel sickness pills from the gift shop?" Hojo suggested sweetly.

Kagome looked at him and realised that if she didn't let him do something to help her, he would just worry and pine away with uselessness. So despite the fact that she didn't need the pills, she smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Hojo. I don't know what I'd do without you."

He beamed and stood up, moving around the table to lean down and kiss her. For a moment, Kagome thought he would kiss her on the lips… but at the last instant he seemed to change his mind and divert the kiss to her cheek.

_That's my Hojo… a complete prude._ Kagome thought, not unkindly, as he smiled and went on his way. She guessed it wasn't Hojo's fault that he was either shy or unnaturally scared of females… but he sure knew how to make a girl feel as though she had a contagious disease.

Tipping her chair back, Kagome raised her eyes to the glittering ceiling of the restaurant and ran a hand idly through her hair. The only thing she could complain about on this cruise was how the ocean air made her hair feel sticky and salty…

And maybe how everyone seemed intent to remind her of Ori…

"Do you think we'll see any pirates while we're here?" a little boy was saying on the table behind Kagome. She gave a paranoid flinch but made no effort to leave. After all, Hojo wouldn't know where to find her if she left the restaurant now.

"Don't be silly," the boy's mother said in a no-nonsense kind of tone. Kagome was grateful that her mother was of the softer variety. "Just because we went to see that awful pirate movie yesterday doesn't mean that there are pirates floating all over the seven seas."

"That was just the Caribbean, Dear." a man said – probably the husband and father.

"There are no pirates in the 21st century." the woman said firmly.

Kagome glumly rolled her straw around her cold drink as a silence fell over the table behind her.

"What about that pirate Naraku? Kouga? Yura the bearded woman?" the man started up again. "Wasn't there a guy on the news who said a freighter had been sank by a pirate identified as 'Inuyasha'?"

"Terrorists." the woman dismissed.

"Sea-born terrorists _are _pirates." the man argued.

"Don't be silly." his wife admonished again.

Kagome's forehead dropped against the table with a sound bang.

This was the point where the kid jumped in again. "Tell me about Inuyasha." he demanded. "He sounds cool."

He sounded like he had cruel parents to give him _that _kind of name. But Kagome didn't voice that thought out loud.

"Well," the father began, in his best storyteller voice. "Legend has it that he has one of everything missing. Peg leg, hook hand, eye patch – the works. He has a pet squirrel that-"

"A _squirrel_?" the boy interrupted.

"A _talking _squirrel in fact… uh… because he's a mute – missing one of his tongues as well."

"Oh, for the love of…" the wife groused.

"He's killed over one thousand men and thirteen kraken sea monsters – he sails with a crew of the undead on a black ship with ghost sails-"

The wife was still not impressed. "You're just reciting that pirate movie we saw."

It was cute, but Kagome knew that the father was only humouring his son. There were no pirates these days – that was a fact of life. If there _were _pirates, Kagome was sure she would have heard about them by now. After all, it wasn't every day that a loony dressed up in drag, hopped in a ship and randomly rammed into free-trading ships, was it?

Hojo was sure taking his time getting those pills… possibly because the gift shop was on the emerald deck which was at least six levels up. The conversation about pirates was beginning to grate on Kagome's nerves, to the point where she gave up on Hojo and decided to go take a walk by herself. She left Hojo a note, but whether or not he would find it before the waiters cleaned the table was up to him.

Perhaps a walk around the main deck was in order?

Just to clear her head of all those horrible memories.

* * *

****

There was a storm. Or something similar…

The waves were tossing below… no… not waves… just thousands and thousands of demons writhing around in what appeared to be tar. To be honest, Inuyasha wasn't paying too much attention to what was below… he was too busy trying to keep the girl holding his hand from falling into hell.

"_Liar_…" she was whispering to him. It was amazing he could actually hear her over the screaming of the wind and the demons. "A _backstabber_."

"Don't…" he was whispering back to her. Her hand was slipping out from his.

"Inuyasha…"

"Please don't…"

"_Inuyasha…"_

"_INUYASHA!"_

With a gasp he bolted upright, forgetting that as an inhabitant of the top bunk, the ceiling wasn't all that far from his mattress. Stars burst in front of his eyes as his skull connected with the metal panel. "Shit… brain damaged… too early…"

"Inuyasha! Come on already!" Miroku was shaking his arm. "The boss wants us all in the mess hall."

"What… now…?" Inuyasha asked groggily, touching the bump on his head.

"Now. Apparently something big is about to go down." Miroku shrugged, but he looked excited. "We don't know what it is yet."

"Coming… coming…" Inuyasha yawned widely and shuffled his way over to the edge of the bunker. Miroku left the cabin, leaving Inuyasha to find the floor by himself… mainly by letting gravity do its job. It was quite a while before he managed to pick himself up and meander his way down to the mess hall.

Upon arriving, Inuyasha realised how packed it was. Most of the men – and a few women – were already tucking into breakfast. Seeing as how the boss hadn't arrived, and how everyone else was just milling around, sitting on tables or chattering away, Inuyasha decided to collect his own tray of food and find his place next to Sango and Miroku.

"You're taking your life into your own hands there." Sango commented as Inuyasha groggily peeled back the plastic film covering his breakfast.

"Rumour has it that we've been getting our lovely 'vacuum packed meals' from passing prisoner ships." Miroku wrinkled his nose at the pungent smell of cabbage from Inuyasha's tray. "Or perhaps it was a nuclear waste vessel…"

"Weaklings." Inuyasha told them shortly, but even so he incredulously pushed a plastic spoon around the orange goop that was supposed to be baked beans.

To be honest, it looked like vomit. Smelled like it to.

"One thing I miss about land is the WacDonalds." Miroku sighed nostalgically.

"Land lover…" Inuyasha picked at the cold yellow slab which resembled scrambled eggs… in a vague, abstract sort of way.

They were all spared further discussions on food as Naraku decided to put in an appearance. A soft hush descended on the gathered pirates as he entered the mess hall and made a beeline for the white board which had been pinned up against the far wall. Printed on the board was a basic map of the China sea – including several of the major ship routes.

"News has reached me today…" Naraku began softly, in a voice so even and quiet it was a wonder it carried as well as it did. "… that a cruise liner carrying an estimated _six hundred _passengers is passing through the B4452 ship route, northbound."

Naraku drew a dotted path of the ship's course to demonstrate. The pirates watched in dull silence as the marker pen squeaked on the white board.

"Flag: Japanese. Four medium speed engines making the craft move at a total of twenty-four knots at the most. Sixty nine tons in total."

A few nervous sounds were beginning to emit from the crowd of gathered men.

"Judging by it's speed and trajectory… we will be able to intercept it…" He drew a cross on the doted line. "Here."

"Isn't that a bit close to the coast?" Kouga spoke up, ever the loudmouth. "And what are we going after a lame passenger ship for anyway? All it has is passengers. We won't get more than a couple of Hawaiian shirts."

General nods and calls of agreement went around the hall.

Naraku remained unperturbed. "Did I mention it was a millionaires' cruise?"

Silence fell so sharply it was almost audible. Someone dropped their tray of food in shock. Probably Inuyasha, seizing an excuse to destroy his breakfast.

"The plan is to do this as quickly as possible. The ship will be half an hour away from the coast – which will be how long it takes for the police forces to arrive. Get in and out in twenty minutes. Do as much damage as you wish, and leave yourself ten minutes to get out of radar range before the sirens arrive… and I want you to front us, Inuyasha."

A sea of heads turned in bewilderment. Inuyasha froze, a finger halfway up his nose.

"You will front us, won't you?" Naraku asked again, a small smile gracing his lips.

Inuyasha cleared his throat and scratched his head. "Yeah, sure… whatever…" He was about as bewildered as everyone else. Well… everyone else except for Miroku and Sango who shared doomed expressions. Obviously, they reckoned Inuyasha was guaranteed to screw up this fantastic mission.

"Every stunt needs a spokes model… someone with whom the whole escapade can be identified with." Naraku told them all, speaking like a true businessman. "You are all to wear masks… apart from Inuyasha. Go in for a full assault, pillage all the cabins you can break into and keep an eye out for the women – this is a millionaires cruise, they'll be carrying most of the money on their person, in the form of jewellery and purses. Inuyasha will hold most of the attention on the main deck."

Meaning while everyone else was having fun ransacking the place, Inuyasha would be tap-dancing to create a diversion at the bow of the ship. Unmasked. If anyone ever saw him again, he'd be identified immediately… not that he spent much time hanging around with people who didn't picked their teeth with knives.

"Does this mean I won't get any booty?" Inuyasha narrowed a sceptical eye at his boss. "All I do is scare people today?"

Naraku smirked. "You can take whatever you want… it'll have to be quick though as it will only be in your last minutes there." He snapped the lid back onto his marker pen. "I want _all_ of you to go. We're due for an inspection this afternoon and I don't want them finding any pirates here."

_Shit_. Inuyasha thought as Naraku ended the session by giving out times and locations. It was all well and good that Naraku had given him "The Sinner" the previous day – but what kind of bastard made him front man and let everyone else have all the fun?

Well… he'd just have to make sure he grabbed something precious on his way out…

But as everyone excitedly made their way down to the docks, they all knew why Inuyasha was getting the special treatment. It was a long, complicated reason… but then again, it was rather simple.

Inuyasha had nothing… not even the memory of land.

It made him the perfect pirate to put on the cover of the proverbial magazine. No one would know who the hell he was… considering he'd been on the oil rig since he was three years old. All anyone knew was that he was a pirate.

"It seems our boss is trying to make a name for you." Miroku muttered later on as the three comrades geared up their small speed boat. "At this rate, you'll be just as renowned as he is in the maritime shipping world. I wonder why…?"

"Maybe he's dying and is trying to bequeath his title onto you." Sango suggested flatly as she untied the mooring rope. She seemed ticked off. Possibly because Miroku was working without a shirt again.

"I think he's trying to put me on all these dangerous jobs to get me killed off. I'm not sure he likes me." Inuyasha pondered as he draped himself over the side of the boat and dabbed his fingers in the inky water.

"Are you kidding?" Miroku scoffed at him. "The guy found you on the streets of Shanghai when you were like… three. He took you under his wing and brought you here – don't tell me, with a straight face, that he doesn't like you. He probably thinks of you as his own son."

"Yuck." Sango shuddered.

Inuyasha just wrinkled his nose. "I don't remember…"

"Well, that cruise liner isn't getting any richer. We better get going." Miroku hopped off the speedboat and back onto the dock platform. "I'll go with Inuyasha on this one," He winked at Sango. "You know… just to look after the yacht newbie."

"Hey! I ain't a newbie!" Inuyasha quickly scurried after him, keen to make sure that Miroku didn't touch anything on that yacht without him knowing. "I'm steering!"

"Of course you are," Miroku said placidly, and at once Inuyasha knew that he was going to end up in the passenger seat. "Looking forward to this?" he asked the sulking hanyou. "Millionaire cruises don't come by every day. The food's great, I hear."

"Yeah, sure… looking forward to it." Inuyasha grumbled, even though he had the imminent feeling that this was probably the worst mistake of his life.

* * *

****

Some kind of Caribbean band was playing on a stage at the very bow of the ship… making it impossible for Kagome to enjoy her routine of pretending to fly. Quite a crowd had gathered there as well, listening to the music and singing along – a lot of people were even dancing.

Kagome wasn't too put out. Even though she didn't quite feel in the mood enough to go join the dancers, she still sat cross-legged on the deck with the others and listened to the music, bobbing her knees in time to the fast beat.

She still couldn't quite enjoy it… she could feel herself slipping back into depression. It happened at least twice a year. Being on a ship, away from her family and friends, with only a boyfriend who seemed scared of any kind of physical contact, Kagome couldn't help but feel slightly down. Toss in a few reminders of pirates and Ori and there you had it. Depression.

_Maybe I should call Mama or something…_ Kagome thought as she reached into her pocket. But she stopped herself and withdrew her hand, deciding against it instead. Who was she to come on a millionaires' cruise and then complain about it to her mother?

_Just suck it up…_ she told herself harshly. What was in the past was staying in the past. What was the use of bringing it back up and moping about it like a pathetic wimp?

"Methinks me needs alcohol…" she sighed, much to the distress of the feeble hearted woman sitting beside her. Kagome didn't notice this though as she stood up and padded her way over to the railing to look over the side of the ship.

The water was quite far down, very dark, and very frothy from the wake of the cruise liner. She idly wondered what would happen if she just jumped over the side, right then, into the black water. Would the ship turn around and come rescue her?

Or, more likely, would they send a little boat out? Or maybe, even _more _likely, would they just not notice and leave her behind…?

The odd wonderings of Kagome's unhappy mind.

The only reason Kagome spotted it was because she happened to be staring directly at it. Any other way and she would have missed it. And it was a moment before she realised what she was looking at.

There was a little white can of soda floating in the surf below her… caught in the foamy wake of the ship, tumbling and floating and almost unnoticeable.

_Right_… Kagome thought drolly, _this is where I turn my eyes to the left and see a pirate ship or something_.

Slowly she inched her eyes up… only to find their path empty of any kind of ship or boat. This made Kagome frown. Who had dropped the can of soda into the water? There was no one else leaning against the railing further up, and no one looking like a guilty litterbug, so who had dropped it? Surely it couldn't have been floating out in the open sea since the last ship had passed by…

In Kagome's ponderings, she turned around and looked back over the deck. She absently wondered what would happen if a shark came along and ate the can, then watched a young boy dive bomb into the nearby swimming pool – spraying all the sunbathers within ten feet.

Were there even any sharks in the China sea? Worriedly, Kagome turned back to the water, intent on looking down in case she saw any worrisome grey triangles poking through the water…

She almost leapt back in shock when she was confronted with the sight of a large white yacht.

_Where the hell did that come from?!_

There were two people on board, but Kagome wasn't looking that closely. It slipped so silently through the water that it was barely audible – no wonder she hadn't heard it coming. And it wasn't just nearby – it was right alongside them! Wasn't driving so close to a cruise liner was considered insane and dangerous…?

It was moving faster than the ship, looking as if it was trying to overtake them, but it hadn't reached Kagome's position yet. Looking further along the walkway to her right, Kagome spotted a few anxious-looking crew members peering down at the yacht. Wasn't it supposed to be here? What was it doing this far out anyway?

The roar of an engine broke though Kagome's thoughts and she looked back down at the water. Two – no, three – speedboats were racing alongside the ship as well now, coming up fast from behind and moving even faster than the yacht.

They shot past Kagome's location, past the bow, then seemed to do a U-turn and came right back the same way.

How pointless was that? What on earth were they doing? Kagome looked back at the yacht…

And her breath caught in her throat.

It was practically alongside her by now, and she could quite clearly see the two passengers on the top deck where the helm was located in the open. One guy was sitting at the wheel, black cloth mask with eye holes jammed over his head… but the other guy…

Cascading locks of silver snow… golden orbs as sharp as flint with all the sparks…

Time really did seem to slow to a crawl. The only thing moving at any speed was Kagome's heart, which seemed to have found its way into her throat.

He was standing with his arms folded, those hard eyes glaring, looking every bit as standoffish as a bad mood. He seemed unperturbed by the way the yacht was bouncing along the waves – he kept his footing throughout.

Those sharp eyes were scanning the length of the cruise liner… Kagome's heart stopped when they passed over her… but they moved on without the slightest blink.

Did that mean it wasn't him? Surely he would have recognised her…

But then whatever time-warp Kagome had been trapped in was shattered as a series of ear-splitting bangs cut through the air. Kagome flinched, her eyes torn away from the white haired boy for a moment to look towards the other side of the ship.

Someone was screaming. Then more people were screaming. Everyone was running. The gunfire continued… but Kagome couldn't move.

Another careless passenger crashed into her, sending her sprawling onto the deck without even sparing an apology. Someone, probably a panicked crewman, was shouting to be heard. "Evacuate the deck! Go back to your cabins and lock your doors! Do not let anyone in!"

But everyone was still running around like headless chickens. They were shouting for family or friends that they couldn't find – mothers were screaming for their children, children were screaming for their mothers, and the crew was desperately trying to heard the stampeding herd of humans indoors. They were failing, of course.

Kagome felt serenely detached from all of the hysteria… she simply sat on the floor and stared in amazement. "Ori…" It had really looked like him. That was all her shell-shocked mind could cope with.

_Clang! Clang! Clang!_

One after another, metal hooks appeared over the rail, scraping along the top bar till they were secure. Kagome looked at the nearest one, only a few metres away from where she sat, and thought they looked like the type of hook one might use if one wanted to catch a whale.

Were there people coming aboard?

Then some bright spark caught on. "It's pirates!"

They were completely surrounded.

Kagome blinked as they appeared, having climbed the ropes attached to those whale hooks. They jumped down onto the deck with the ease that only years of practise could bring. Each and every single one of them wore some kind of homemade mask ranging from brown paper bags with eyeholes to hockey masks or towels wrapped around their heads like Arabian warriors.

Kagome was surprised they didn't race over and start plundering, stealing and raping like all pirates were supposed to do… granted these weren't the kind of pirates that she was used to hearing about, but still… why weren't they making any move to _terrorise_? They just stood there picking the lint of their clothes or checking the ammunition in their guns.

Everyone was still screaming and running around – some of the smarter ones were even escaping indoors now.

_"SILENCE!"_ One voice rose above the hundreds of others in a clear bellow, followed by the rattling of gunfire – this time from a machinegun.

These weren't peashooters these men were packing.

The gunfire cut short and the noise of screaming died. It was almost as if everyone was looking around to see who had been gunned down… but it appeared that the weapon had been fired into the air harmlessly…

Well, at least he now had their attention.

He stood out from the others now… mostly because he was the only one who remained unmasked. Perhaps also because he was standing on the platform where the Caribbean performers had been playing only seconds before – they seemed to have been pushed off, instruments and all.

Everyone watched him with fearful, terrified gazes.

"That's better." The peevish young man let the machinegun drop back against his hip, secured there by a shoulder strap. His voice didn't carry well and Kagome had to strain to hear him, but when everyone was hanging onto his every word he didn't need to make an effort to be loud. "Now all of you – sit down!"

There was a long pause of hesitation.

"I'm not going to repeat myself." But he did anyway. "Sit down and put your hands on your heads."

This time, they all complied. After all, he _was _holding a weapon of semi-mass destruction. Though, judging by those talons on his fingers, Kagome doubted he needed it… the machinegun was just a scare tactic, wasn't it?

She decided it couldn't be him… her Ori would never turn out like this. But…

"Twenty minutes!" the white haired youth called, and at this, the other pirates began racing off, heading down the gangways or pushing through the glass doorways that led below deck. This left only a hundred hostages and one young pirate with a machinegun. Not a particularly safe combination.

The youth aimed the gun high, and when Kagome followed its path, she realised he was aiming it at the bridge. "Try anything shifty," he yelled to the captain who was undoubtedly watching, "and one of these nice people die right here!"

Hostages. They were all definitely hostages.

Kagome couldn't tear her eyes off him. The hair was the same. The eyes were the same. His face was a little different… but it _had _been four years – and what if the body they had found in the fire hadn't been his?

But if he really was Ori… he would recognise her, wouldn't he?

Those amber eyes were surveying the cowering group of passengers. They passed over her, but like before, they didn't linger any longer than what would be suspicious. Not a single flicker of recognition.

It couldn't be him…

Ori was dead. Fact.

_Stop dreaming, Kagome, you're currently a hostage to a gang of blood-thirsty pirates!_

Whatever was going on below decks with the rest of the pirates was a mystery, since none of the noise reached their ears. The white haired youth was now casually strolling his way through the sitting passengers, every now and then glancing up at the bridge to wave at the captain. He stopped beside a middle aged woman with a child huddled in her arms. Kagome watched intently, along with everyone else, wondering what he was thinking.

Slowly, he reached down… then with a quick jerk of the wrist he snapped off her necklace. The woman yelped in pain but the boy paid no mind as he held up the pendant for examination. He said something to the woman, too quiet for Kagome to hear, then pocketed the piece of jewellery into a waterproof sports bag over his other shoulder.

He was making his way towards Kagome… maybe not deliberately, but he was gradually moving in her vague direction.

Another woman lost a set of pearl earrings as he passed by and a pensioner lost his Rolex watch. The pirate donned that watch for himself and for a few minutes he simply leant against the railing at the edge of the deck, glancing at his new watch and finishing off a burger someone had abandoned on its plate during the ambush. Obviously this guy didn't worry about cooties or anything…

Five minutes must have passed… but it felt like an eternity.

This time he was close enough for Kagome to hear his rather blatant sigh. "Bored… bored… bored…" he prattled off and stood up. The slow stroll commenced again, heading Kagome's way again, though this time he stopped by nearly everyone he crossed and said, "Just put all your cash and valuables on the floor and I won't have to make you hurt."

Needless to say, everyone complied rather obediently.

Kagome lowered her eyes as he came closer, praying that he would pass her by… but knowing that she would be frustrated and disappointed if he did.

Then someone tried to play hero. A man threw himself upon the pirate's turned back and tried to wrestle the weapon off him. It wouldn't he hard, right? The hero was a full grown, hulk of a man and the pirate was just some weedy teenager.

Kagome looked up in time to see Mr Hero go sailing through the air… and over the side of the ship. Her mouth dropped open.

A small splash indicated the supposed hero had hit the water.

The pirate looked slightly ruffled, but more pissed off than hurt. "Well, _that _was clever." He shouted snidely after the man, then shrugged his shoulders and got on with his project of robbing everyone of their personal belongings.

Kagome's eyes were fixed firmly on the floor when his boots arrived into her field of vision. "Drop 'em." He said shortly, expecting no resistant.

Kagome didn't give any – she didn't know what else to do. With shaking hands she undid the catch of her necklace and placed it on the ground, followed by her two bangles, her leather wrist watch and her mobile phone. Out of all of it she would miss her mobile the most… it was a camera phone for crying out loud!

"Cheap shit…" the pirate muttered, assessing her belongings critically. Ah… so he noticed that the necklace was just a cubic zirconium. She half expected him to believe it was a real diamond. However, he must have thought her phone was worth something as he stooped down to pick it up, adding it to his growing collection.

Kagome spared a small glance up at his face.

The scrappy bandana covering his head made him look like a serious pirate wannabe… but what if there was more to it than that. What if he had _ears_? As far as she could see, he seemed to be missing the human kind. And was the bandana so lumpy because it hid more than hair beneath it…?

He blinked slowly at her. "Keep the rest." he shrugged and began to move onto the next person.

The word escaped her mouth before she could stop it, but it came out choked. "Ori…"

He stopped dead.

Kagome's heart was doing all sorts of gymnastics in her chest. He'd heard her… he recognised his own name! Glancing up at him, wondering if this really was too good to be true, she connected with blank amber eyes. He frowned slightly, and from that incredulous expression, Kagome wondered if she'd got it wrong. "What did you say…?"

"Um… you… you don't remember me… do you?" Her voice quivered pathetically. She wanted to slap herself.

But it was worth it when something new flashed in those blank, critical eyes.

Recognition.

He knew her! He remembered her! She must have looked different since she last saw him four years ago but that didn't matter! How on earth he was still alive when he should have been dead didn't matter! The fact that he hadn't even tried to contact her or anyone else didn't matter! Ori was alive! Ori was _here_!

"You fucking bitch…" he spat.

But somehow he didn't seem as pleased about it as she was…

Kagome found herself suddenly hauled up on her feet and dragged all the way through the crowds of sitting cruise passengers. She wanted to ask what he thought he was doing – but that soon became clear.

He was going to execute her.

"Wha – let me go!" she screamed as he dragged her, kicking and stumbling, up the five steps to the platform at the bow of the ship. Looking around for help, she caught a glance of the many faces below her… all looking shocked, tense – even angry – but most looked relieved to see it wasn't them being dragged onstage.

One strong push later and Kagome fell to her knees with a pained gasp. Before she could cuss him out or try to stand up, the cool, slightly wet tip of a machinegun was pushed up against her forehead. Kagome went cold.

"I knew you were alive. I knew it." He snapped out, irrationally angry at her for reasons unknown to Kagome. The Ori look-alike turned towards the bridge where the captain stood watching at his window. "I'm taking one hostage!" he yelled, then his focus was back on Kagome. "And you'll make my perfect ten."

Kagome tried to swallow, but her throat had closed. She couldn't seem to stop wondering what it would feel like to get shot in the head…

"Higurashi!"

_Hojo_… Kagome's eyes flew wide as she tried to turn to see him. Had he been on deck all this time? Why hadn't she seen him? The pirate's hand fastened around the back of her neck, twisting her back in place, but the weapon was now aimed elsewhere.

"Sit back down!"

"Let Higurashi go!" Hojo's footsteps were rushing closer.

Letting her eyes fall closed, Kagome just wished that he would sit down.

But this pirate didn't ask twice.

One shot only was discharged with such a jolt that Kagome felt it through her contact with the pirate's hand. If she'd felt cold before, now she felt like she'd been turned to stone.

_Hojo_…

Somehow she found the strength to tear free of his grip and turn to see what had happened. Hojo was on the floor… writhing in pain and clutching his leg – but he was alive at least. Cold fear was replaced by a sweeping feeling of relief… which fast dissolved into burning anger. He'd shot Hojo. He'd _shot _Hojo!

Her friend had shot her boyfriend.

"How… _dare you?_!" she shook with the seething nature of her anger. Once again that time distortion had occurred and everything and everyone moved like they were underwater. The pirate turned indifferently to her, blinking slowly as if he'd done nothing wrong. Kagome felt unnaturally fast as she shot to her feet and grabbed the gun – forgetting in an instant that what she was doing was dangerous not only to herself, but to everyone around them. If that gun went off…

Fortunately, he was a lot stronger than he looked. Kagome posed no threat to his control over the gun. Once again, he only had to give her the slightest push to send her sprawling backwards. Kagome's adrenaline fuelled strength dissipated and she sat quivering at the edge of the platform, feeling weak and empty. Most of all, she felt very dizzy.

"I'm only taking one hostage today." He told her, as if justifying his reasons for not killing Hojo. It seemed he only intended to kill one person. Her.

But then everything erupted into chaotic madness. Kagome could barely follow anything at all…

Pirates burst through the doors, coming up from below deck. They were shouting, waving their guns and knives, all of them holding bulging sports bags over their shoulders. "Let's go!" some of them were shouting. "We've got ten minutes – the police are coming!"

The bandits were racing to edge of the deck, grabbing their ropes and leaping over the railing. Confused passengers were beginning to stand up – several people were moving to tend to poor Hojo whose quiet, muffled cries of pain were drowned out by the shouting, hollering, cheering pirates.

Kagome's head spun dangerously.

The white haired youth dropped his machine gun, tugging his shoulder strap so it fell securely against his back. He joined the rush of other pirates to abandon ship… and for one blessed moment, Kagome thought she was safe…

Until an arm wrapped around her torso and jerked her to her feet. Kagome cried out as she was tossed callously over a shoulder and then carried towards the railing. The movement and the jerking was making her feel sick, and making black spots dance in front of her vision.

"You're not getting off so easily," she heard the pirate say, just before she was hurled into the air.

She remembered falling, but she didn't remember hitting the water at all.


	3. Spirited Away

**Author's Notes: **Chapter 3 up and running!

* * *

**The Sinner **

**Chapter Three**

**Spirited Away**

"So what did you get?"

Sango plonked herself down on the white cooling box in the back of her speedboat. She tipped out her goody bag onto the box beside her. "Let's see… I got three pearl necklaces, five diamond pendants, a digital video-recorder, ten rings of assorted value, and a little red laser pointer thingy…" She picked up the last item and aimed it at Miroku's head, smiling mildly at the red dot that appeared between his eyes. "I could have a lot of fun with this thing."

"Swap you the pointer for…" Miroku fished the first thing out of his bag. "A purse full of Pokémon trading cards…"

"No deal." Sango slipped the pointer into her pocket.

"Good, 'cause I want these. Look – I didn't have Bulbasaur before!" Miroku began leafing through the cards with growing excitement. "Or Pikachu!"

Sango shook her head and cast a wary eye in all directions, noting the oil rig as a distant blip on the horizon. Most of the pirates' boats were still crowded in a tight bunch near her speedboat, however, unwilling to return so quickly to the base. By oath, ten percent of all bounty had to be donated to the boss, and since no self-respecting pirate _wanted_ to do that, they all had to sort through their bounty before arriving back at the rig. They hid what they wanted to keep and left what could be given up in their bags.

Miroku hurried, tucking his new Pokémon cards into the pocket of his jeans with a knowing wink at Sango. "Don't tell anyone about this, remember that."

"I'd be too embarrassed to." Sango carried on surveying the horizon. "Oh look, here comes Frontman." she exclaimed upon spotting the approaching yacht. "I kind of feel sorry for him… I bet he couldn't get much being stuck on deck… do you think we should give him some of our stuff?"

Miroku gave her a serious look and continued hiding the valuables in various pockets and slots around the boat. He evidently didn't feel too hot about _that _idea. Sango sighed and stood up, waving to the approaching yacht despite the hanyou already having seen her. He slid to a stop a few metres away and switched the engine off with a sound snap of the ignition. It was only then that she noticed how disgruntled he looked.

Poor guy probably hadn't gotten much for all his trouble.

"Get anything interesting?" she called over to him as Miroku watched with vague interest, chewing a half-eaten Snickers bar that he'd lifted from the cruise. What Inuyasha picked up off his deck was enough to make him choke on the chocolate.

It was an incredibly bedraggled and drenched young female. She hung limply from Inuyasha's grip on her upper arm, dangling like a soggy rag doll. Her curling hair plastered across half her face, the same way a pale blue shirt was now plastered shamelessly to her figure… and would have looked very inappropriate had she not already been wearing a two-piece bathing suit.

Sango and Miroku stared.

Then Miroku cleared his throat. "Man… I'd throw that one back if I were you. A dead broad can't do anyone _any _good. Unless… you're into that kind of thing…?"

Sango slapped his arm. "She isn't dead, you moron." she hissed, then looked back at Inuyasha incredulously. "Why did you kidnap a girl? Do you plan to hold her ransom or something…? Because I don't think Naraku would like you taking risks like that…"

"Or is she just going to be your sex monkey?" Miroku wondered aloud – too aloud, judging by that glare from Sango. "Because _that _Naraku wouldn't mind so-"

"Idiots!" Inuyasha snapped, dragging the girl towards the edge of the yacht and letting her drape over the railing. "Can't you see it – it's her!"

They both blinked. Nonplussed.

"Hey – her skirt looks like it's been run over with a lawnmower!" Miroku proclaimed.

"Somehow… I don't think you're looking at her _skirt_." Sango commented dryly.

Inuyasha was growing irritated. "Look at her." He grabbed a fistful of her hair and dragged her head up.

Miroku choked all over again.

Sango's eyes widened considerably. "Inuyasha… she looks just like-"

"-but didn't she die?" Miroku interrupted, staring in disbelief.

"We never found a body, did we?" Inuyasha said by way of answering. "It was never really confirmed that she died."

"But…" Sango shook her head, narrowing her eyes in thought. "What if she just looks like her…? I swear that girl isn't old enough to be Kikyo… a younger sister, maybe, but not-"

"She recognised me." Inuyasha cut her off abruptly. "She called me 'Ori'."

Miroku darted a glance at Sango. "Uh… who's Ori, again?"

Sango shrugged, seemingly as clued in as Miroku was.

Inuyasha chose to ignore their off-topic ramblings. "She recognised me – who else would she be?" Inuyasha jostled the unconscious girl.

"One of your new fans?" Miroku hazarded a guess. "Come on, Inuyasha. There is no way Kikyo could have survived the storm, and that girl is clearly not her. Besides you're probably only making her disgustingly rich father very angry with you."

Some of the boats around them were beginning to move off , having finished banking their bounty. Sango watched them head off towards the oil rig in the distance, holding onto the edge of the speedboat as it bounced from the waves produced by their wake. She tapped Miroku's arm distractedly. "We'd better get going…"

"I'd recommend taking her to Naraku before you do anything else that rash." Miroku told Inuyasha quickly as Sango made for the helm.

"He's already kidnapped her, what else is there left to do?" the girl called over her shoulder.

"Kill her perhaps." Inuyasha said darkly.

"Oh…" Sango shifted in her seat. "You should listen to Miroku in that case." She revved the engine.

"Don't be long!" Miroku waved as they sped off in pursuit of the last speedboat.

Inuyasha sighed and let the girl drop down to the deck by his feet. He looked her over uncertainly, suddenly not so sure that this was Kikyo after all. She seemed smaller and softer somehow… but her face was the same, even though he'd seen a wider range of emotions and expressions flash across it in the short time she'd been conscious than in the entire time he'd known Kikyo previously.

Inuyasha sat down behind the wheel again, leaning against it as he let his thoughts carry him away. An old habit took over, as it often did when he wasn't on guard… he bit down on the tip of his little finger, worrying it between his teeth.

But then he caught himself and quickly dropped his hand. Shaking his head, he wondered what portion of his bounty he should give to Naraku. The girl, or the treasure?

* * *

****

When Kagome woke up, she woke up in layers. First of all, she was distantly aware of a shooting pain down her spine. But at that time however, she was too asleep to understand why the pain was there or to try and fix the problem. It was a while before the discomfort of her position roused her enough to open her eyes.

She blinked as she came nose to nose with something flat and metal… then realised that it was the wall.

Kagome had never sat up so fast or with so much trouble in her life.

"What the…?"

The pain she'd felt in her back was due to having nearly fallen off the bunk bed that she'd been sleeping on. Her lower half was still on the bleak grey mattress, but her upper half had been slumped on the floor with her face pressed against the even bleaker coloured wall. When Kagome had sat up, or tried to, she'd slipped straight onto the floor.

Where the heck was she?

Looking around, she realised she was in a room – a very small room. Dirty magazines littered the floor, a potted cactus sat on what looked like a book shelf (beside more dirty magazines), a locked chest sat in the corner behind the metal plated door, and Kagome herself sat in front of a pair of bunk beds. There was also a small, round window between the two beds…

Kagome scrambled up onto the bottom bunker and clasped her hands around the bars screwed over the window. Outside she could see the sun blinking down through a sparse smattering of cloud and below that was just ocean for miles and miles… she couldn't see a speck of land.

But what perturbed her most was that she realised she wasn't actually on a boat of any kind. She could see men working one level below her, and below them was some kind of docking pier with a few boats moored there… from her window, Kagome couldn't see much else. But she was certain she was on some kind of rig in the middle of the ocean.

All the memories hit her full force and she chewed her lip anxiously as she reabsorbed it again.

She'd been on a cruise – depressed, of all things – then pirates had attacked! One of them had looked like her Ori… but she wasn't all that sure it was him. Yes, Ori was very unique when it came to appearances, but this guy couldn't possibly be him…

Where was 'this guy' anyway? The last thing she remembered was being picked up and thrown overboard. Judging from the way her hair hung in a frizzy mess, and her clothes and arms smelt very strongly of dried salt, she _had _actually hit the water… but the rest of it was just a blank.

Pulling away from the window, Kagome glanced towards the door, assessing it silently. She was almost willing to bet that she could let off an atomic bomb in this room and that door would probably still hold… not that Kagome was willing to test that theory. But that door looked at least three feet thick.

_Am I in a prison cell?_ she wondered to herself. This place was the pits – it was the armpit of the pits, in fact. This was the kind of place they put you away when you get a life sentence from a judge.

Well, if the door was locked she'd know for sure.

Almost hesitantly, Kagome stood up again and trudged over to the door. She had to spend a few moments trying to figure out how the handle turned exactly (it had two catches and a press-down button behind it) and even then she found, to her dismay, that she was locked in.

"Oh god…" she muttered to herself, feeling her panic rise. She was on some kind of floating prison in the middle of the China sea, miles from home and family… and… and Hojo!

Oh god, what about Hojo! She'd completely forgotten that he'd been shot! Kagome automatically clapped her hands over her mouth as she remembered how the Ori-look-alike had fired off a shot from his gun and hit Hojo in the leg. He'd been bleeding badly – she'd _seen _the blood on the pristine deck beneath him as everyone had surged to help.

Was he ok now? Was he in the hospital? Had he died of blood loss before he could be taken to a doctor? Where was the guy who had shot him? Would he do the same to her?

_I have to get out of here. _Kagome decided. There was no other choice. Either stay and let that _fiend _do whatever he wanted with her, providing he came back, or try and run away now and keep her dignity and self-respect.

It wasn't a hard choice.

The hard part came with how on earth she'd find a screwdriver to dispose of the bars on the window so she could escape. But with the amount of junk piled up around the room, she was bound to find something.

Kagome began the difficult task of rifling through the contents of each dark corner. She pushed the magazines aside, trying hard not to look at the pictures too much, and fished around under the bed. The only thing she found there was a dodgy-looking pair of underpants.

"Ew!" She tossed them aside and went to try the chest – which was also locked, much to her exasperation. Someone seemed bent in keeping her locked inside that pitiful excuse for a prisoner's cell.

Then she heard voices coming down the hall. She recognised one of them in an instant.

The Ori-look-alike was returning with a chum.

Kagome froze in the middle of the room, torn for what to do. Get that cactus and wait for him to enter before attacking? Or should she just lie down and play dead?

The latter option sounded much safer and easier, so without further ado, Kagome scurried back to the bed and flopped down on the mattress. She tried to arrange herself in the same position as before, but she didn't have a lot of time and she needed to calm her breathing before they entered.

_Just think sleepy thoughts…_ she chided herself as she laid her head down and closed her eyes. Taking deep, even breathes, she waited for the pirates to arrive.

Kagome's heart tripped over itself as something clattered inside the door – the lock and key no doubt. It gave a heavy click and the door handle swung all the way down. The door cracked open.

"-and don't forget to come by and help with the exports. You're not getting off easily this time." some stranger was saying. Another young man by the sound of it.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." a more familiar voice said.

Footsteps retreated as the extra person disappeared away down the corridor again. The door opened more fully and someone stepped through. With her eyes firmly shut, Kagome could only judge his movements by sound.

Boots scraped against the floor, and the door gave a shuddering clang as it closed again. Kagome's heart gave another bionic leap in speed as she realised she was now trapped in a tiny room with a pirate of all people. If only she had taken that cactus as a weapon while she'd had the chance…

But… why had it gone so quiet?

Kagome resisted the temptation to open her eyes and locate him. He _was _still in the room, since there was no where else he could have gone. But why wasn't he moving at all? Was he watching her? Was he holding an axe over her head right at that moment?

If she opened her eyes, he would know she was awake…

Kagome tried to keep her cool… but it was hard. She felt like she was under intense scrutiny, but as the same time she was beginning to doubt if he was even there at all.

Her resistance caved and she cracked her eyes open.

Ok… he was still there… sitting on the trunk behind the door, but he wasn't looking in her direction. He seemed to be staring at the opposite wall rather blankly, feet propped against the edge of the chest and head leant back against the wall behind him.

Kagome blinked at him, confused. He looked about as depressed as she had felt on the cruise ship. Should she cough and let him know she was awake?

No… he'd probably still bite her head off.

His hand moved and Kagome closed her eyes without thinking, not keen to let him know she was conscious after all. A moment or two later, she heard him sigh deeply. "Don't bother, I know you're awake."

_No, I__m not. _Kagome pretended to sleep on just to spite him. After a long pause, she realised how futile that was… and so she opened her eyes with a weary sigh and sat up, looking at him sheepishly.

What she saw him doing made her breath catch in her throat.

He was simply biting down on the nail of his little finger. He wasn't chewing his nails the way Kagome had used to when she was a child; he was just holding the tip of his pinky between his teeth.

It was something that Ori had done sometimes. He'd done it right before he'd had to go on stage and do his lines for the school play. He'd had stage fright. But he'd also done it when he'd smashed his own bedroom window with his football… that time Ori had been worried about the wrath he was about to receive off his guardians.

Biting the little finger was his nervous habit.

Besides reinforcing Kagome's belief that this _was _Ori, it also told her that he was anxious about something. About what, though?

The little finger was released at last. "How did you do it?" he asked simply, not looking at her.

"Excuse me?" She frowned slightly.

"How did you survive?" He glanced at her shrewdly.

Kagome felt she should be the one asking that particular question. So she decided to ignore him and do an interrogation of her own. "What about you? Where've you been for the last four years? How come you knew me on the cruise liner? Is it because… because… um…"

She made a lousy interrogator.

"You sound weird." The boy let his feet drop off the trunk so he could rest his forearms on his thighs. "Did you hit your head during that storm or something?"

"What storm?" Kagome scowled moodily.

He gave her a penetrating stare. "Stop playing games, Kikyo. You ripped me off and I cut your line. You _drowned_. I saw you fall – there was no way you could have survived that."

"W-wait…" Kagome held up her hands in a slowing down gesture. "I think you have me confused with someone else."

"Oh yeah?" The boy's eyes narrowed as he stood and stalked over to her. Kagome resisted the temptation to cower backwards. "If you're not Kikyo then why did you say "Ori" when you saw me?"

"B-because…" Kagome shook her head slightly, gazing up at him with confused eyes. "You… _are _Ori… aren't you?" she asked quietly, like a tiny girl rather than a capable teenager.

"I think… _you _have me confused with someone else…" He looked as tormented and confused as he sounded. "You thought I was… Ori…"

The pirate's face suddenly went slack and he straightened abruptly, gazing off into space again. Kagome watched him intently as he turned and wandered back to the trunk. He stood for a moment, hands pressed against his face as if suddenly tired.

But then that temper she'd seen him possess on the cruise ship surfaced again. With a loud, explicit curse he slammed his foot against the trunk, splintering the side and breaking the lock in one fell kick. Kagome flinched and probably would have been running for all she was worth had she not been trapped with him.

"Shit!" He kicked it again for good measure. "I should have known…!"

Kagome couldn't help herself. "Known… what?"

He gave an angry gasp and rounded on her. "What _is _your name?" he demanded.

"K-Kagome."

"Thanks a fucking bunch, _Kagome_." he spat. "Thanks to you, I have completely screwed up!" He threw his hands up. "Again!"

Kagome shuffled uneasily. "Well… sorry…" And why was she apologising to the brute that had kidnapped her? She rolled her eyes. "Ok, so I'm not Kikyo. Will you take me back home?"

He folded his arms and gave her a scathing look. "Not likely. Who do you think I am?"

_I think you__re Ori, but you__ve just forgotten perhaps…?_ Kagome pursed her lips slightly. "So… if you're not Ori, then just who are you?"

He looked as though he was going to avoid answering to annoy her, but he seemed to change his mind. "It's Inuyasha, isn't it." He shrugged as though everyone in the world should have known his name.

"And you've always been Inuyasha?" she asked, still hopeful.

"Duh. My parents named me that. It hasn't changed since I was born." He looked at her like she was something to be scraped off the bottom of his shoe.

Kagome internally sighed. So he wasn't her Ori after all. Her Ori hadn't even known his parents… he'd been adopted when he was only one or two. He'd always been called Ori as well.

The pirate seemed to have read her thoughts simply by watching her face. "You still hoped I was Ori, didn't you?" He didn't sound scathing now.

"Yes…" she admitted glumly.

"I have news for you." he said evenly. "Ori died in a fire four years ago, thirteen years old."

Kagome's mouth dropped open. "I know… I was there…" She stared at him, not quite believing what had just come out of his mouth. "How… how did you-"

"Because he was my brother." was the simple response.

Kagome couldn't move, or even think, for a moment or two. Her mind was just one big white space of shock. A twin…?

So Ori was really gone?

She didn't even register seeing his brother leave the room and lock the door. All she registered was how the grief seemed to well up inside her, like his death was fresh again. It was almost as if he'd been within her grasp… but he'd slipped away again.

Kagome cupped her hands to her face and cried for the second day in a row.

* * *

****

Why hadn't he realised this sooner? It explained a heck of a lot… and it would have saved him a lot of trouble and angst if he'd just made this connection earlier.

The girl was a stranger to him. The only reason she'd looked at him twice was because she thought he was someone else who was equally as estranged to him. And the only reason he had recognised her was because he'd thought she recognised him because she was Kikyo and he was Inuyasha, not Ori, and it was… so confusing…

Inuyasha pressed his palm against his forehead, scolding himself for his blind stupidity. He sat in the chair in front of Naraku's desk, waiting for the boss to return. Inuyasha wasn't exactly sure why the boss had summoned him… but he had a vague idea.

Sitting in the cold, dank office, Inuyasha began to realise how bitterly disappointed he was. He had _hoped _the girl was Kikyo… he'd _wanted _to believe she was alive and well, to alleviate the guilt from her death if nothing else.

Ironically, _she _was the one who had told him about his brother. In that very office in fact, when he'd caught her sniffing around Naraku's files and contacts. That was also the time he had realised she wasn't an ally at all… she was a spy sent by one of Naraku's rivals.

He'd never felt so betrayed in his life.

"What are you doing in here?" he'd asked her the moment he'd entered. She'd stiffened up like a startled animal, staring at him with an 'oh shit' kind of expression. The pregnant pause had stretched on for a short eternity… giving Inuyasha the time to absorb and accept what he was seeing, and giving Kikyo the chance to bring up her scapegoat.

"Inuyasha – you have to listen to me." She had rushed into a speech, dropping the papers she'd been reading through. "Naraku is only using you – you have to get out of here!"

"You're a spy!" he'd hissed, disregarding what she had said in an instant. "Who are you working for – the MSS? The PSIA?"

"Inuyasha, _please listen!_" She'd sounded urgent. "Naraku's been _lying _to you – he only intends to use as a means to get what he wants! You have a brother – a twin, Ori – he's been living in Japan with an adoptive family! You and he have to-"

"You're full of it!" That was the lamest lie he'd ever heard. "How dare you come here and pretend to be working for us when you're just a fucking mole for someone else!"

"We're trying to help you!" she'd cried. "We're your allies – Naraku is your enemy! I'm working for your brother-"__

"Bullshit."

"His name is Sesshomaru! Inuyasha, you have to believe me – Naraku is trying to use you against-"

At that point, Inuyasha had heard enough. He'd never heard such trash in his life. He'd been kicked out of some crummy orphanage when he was barely old enough to talk. He had no family – if he had, would he have been left on the streets like that? Naraku had saved him from the fate of every other urchin – this girl had no right to appear out of the blue and try to poison his mind like this!

And everyone knew that 'Sesshomaru' was Naraku's biggest rival. To be told that he was _related _to that prick…?

There had been a storm going on at the time, one of those sudden violent bursts that tore up the sea and any boat in its way. The rig could stand it, but it was wise to lock yourself within your cabin when the stormy season came calling. But Kikyo had been a fool, or just plain naïve… she'd rushed headlong out of the office's back door and onto the outside platform in the middle of a ferocious storm. Inuyasha had followed her, their yelling barely audible over the roaring waves and screaming winds.

Kikyo had strayed too close to the edge of the platform. A freak wave had surged up and all but wrapped itself around her…dragging her down with it as it returned to the sea. But Kikyo had managed to grab part of a rope… and Inuyasha had managed to grab the other end before it had slipped away completely.

But he hadn't pulled her up.

"Tell me you don't work for Sesshomaru!" He'd been distraught. "Take back what you said!"

She'd just shook her head. "He's a liar, Inuyasha… Naraku will stab you in the back when the time arises! I would never work for him!"

Inuyasha had released the rope and watched her fall into the vicious waves… she hadn't even screamed.

No one could have survived that kind of storm.

But then Naraku had taken him aside a few days later and actually _confirmed _most of what Kikyo had told him. Sesshomaru _was _his brother. He really _did _have a twin in Japan, although he had passed away in a fire three years prior. Kikyo had simply been sent by Sesshomaru to gain access to the shipping schedules, to intercept their cargo before Naraku's men could. Kikyo had only been trying to convince him of otherwise to buy herself time to escape.

If Kikyo's blatant betrayal of his trust hadn't already hurt, finding out that she had even stolen half of his bounty and taken it to the bottom of the sea with her had definitely stung. He was still angry at her…

But still incredibly guilty that he had let her fall like that…

"Inner monologue?"

_What the…!_ Inuyasha spun around in his chair to face Naraku. When had he entered? Inuyasha watched him warily as the man moved to sit down behind his desk… evidently he'd been too wrapped up in his thoughts and memories to hear him enter.

"I saw the girl you brought." The boss said as he sat down quietly. "Where is she now?"

"Locked in my cabin." Inuyasha answered shortly.

"You know who she looks like, don't you." It wasn't really posed as a question.

Inuyasha shrugged. "I thought she was Kikyo… that's why I took her."

"But she isn't." Naraku made the plain statement. "Now what do you plan to do with her?"

Inuyasha shrugged again. He hadn't really thought this far ahead.

"You cannot keep her here." Naraku told him firmly. "First of all, she will probably get into trouble with the men. Second, she is undoubtedly related to someone awfully rich to have come from a millionaires' cruise, someone who will probably want your head and have every resource at their disposal to retrieve it… and retrieve her, of course. I am not willing to let you compromise the security of this base for one girl."

"I know…" Inuyasha muttered.

"You'll have to return her."

That meant taking her to the coast and getting dangerously far into Japanese waters. If anyone decided to follow him back, he would have a lot of trouble shaking them off… he'd probably have to take a grenade launcher with him in that case.

Inuyasha wanted to put it off…

"I'll take her back to her country." _And dump her in the sea before we get there._

Naraku tented his fingers with a deep sigh and looked down at his desk as though in deep thought. Usually this was the point that Inuyasha would be dismissed… but that didn't seem to be the case this time. Inuyasha tapped his toes impatiently as he waited to be given the order to get out.

"You and I are very alike, Inuyasha." Naraku said finally, making Inuyasha blink, nonplussed. "Both Hanyous. Hiding out in the middle of the ocean to escape the real world and all its prejudices and hatred towards our kind. Most of the people on this rig are demon in some form or another… and those who aren't demons are human outcasts."

Was he going somewhere with this? Inuyasha scratched behind an ear as he waited for the point to arrive.

"If this rig were to ever be compromised, most of us, if not all of us, will either be hunted down one by one and given the death penalty… or by some miracle manage to escape that fate and die a slower, if not more painful, death."

"I told you – I won't let that girl compromise us!" Inuyasha said hotly.

"That isn't what I implied." Naraku responded calmly. "It had recently come to my attention that Sesshomaru had planted another mole in our ranks. I've had him removed and interrogated… but it appears that Sesshomaru's goal this time… is simply you."

"Why… because we're related?" Inuyasha said stiffly.

"Perhaps. Perhaps he simply can't stand the idea of a blood relative cooperating with his rival. Maybe he wants to get even with you for killing off his most prized pirate a year ago." Here Inuyasha winced slightly. "Or maybe he just wants to reunite with his younger brother… although judging from Sesshomaru's character, I think the latter is very unlikely."

Inuyasha remained silent.

"I want you to be careful from now on." Naraku told him seriously. "Bearing in mind that Sesshomaru's base of operations is located on the coast of Japan, I wouldn't stray too far that way. If one of his men comes across you, they _will _attempt to abduct you. Or kill you. So try and stay away from suspicious looking vessels."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. Overprotective bosses were the worst… "Sure. Whatever."

"Thank you, Inuyasha." Naraku nodded. "You may leave now."

_Finally. _Inuyasha rolled to his feet and quickly escaped his boss' presence.

So Sesshomaru was after him now… well, that just meant that Inuyasha would have steer clear of the coast… which meant that returning the girl back to her country would have to wait.

Or maybe she could just have a quick stop at the bottom of the ocean?

* * *

****

It was surprising how very little there was to do in a jail cell. Kagome had resigned herself to crunching morosely on the malteasers she'd found in the trunk that the pirate, Inuyasha, had broken earlier. Along with the sweets, there had been quite a lot of clothes… and she'd found a disturbing amount of _treasure_.

Plastic shopping bags were full of the stuff… credit cards, a lot of money in three different kinds of currency, tangled necklaces, earrings and bracelets made of solid gold, pearl or diamond… and quite a lot of small electronic devices. PDAs, a laptop or two, more mp3 players than one could shake a stick at, and small stacks of CDs – they were all there.

The life of a pirate was a rich one… although, the living situation didn't seem to reflect that.

Worry and anxiety gnawed at her insides and she sat by the window, staring out at the sea and the people working below. She wanted nothing more than to go home and fall into her mother's arms and to cry her eyes out. In fact, she really wanted to cry right then, but she'd promised herself that she wouldn't show any more weakness to these people. Kagome was a strong girl, and she wouldn't let pirates get her down.

Still… her chin wobbled slightly when she thought of home.

And Ori.

"Stupid boy…" she sniffed to herself. "Why didn't he tell me he had an evil twin?"

So far, the twin had done nothing to endear himself to Kagome. He'd been pushy, violent, overly aggressive and obviously had issues. He needed therapy. And whoever Kikyo was, Kagome felt sorry for the girl. If Kikyo really had been on that ship, would the white haired pirate really have tried to shoot her the way he'd tried to shoot Kagome to make his "perfect ten"? Whatever the heck the "perfect ten" was anyway…

Kagome's eyes wandered around the room, still half-heartedly searching for a way to escape. Her gaze landed on the small potted cactus and narrowed… what kind of pirate kept a cactus by their bed?

Just as she was giving into her urge to go over and pluck all the needles out of the plant – purely to spite Inuyasha – she heard a faint beeping.

Kagome stopped dead and listened intently.

There it was again.

It sounded like a phone… _Kagome__s _ring tone, in fact. Glancing up towards the trunk, the source of the beeping, she realised that her phone was ringing. _Someone was trying to contact her!_

With no one around to be any the wiser, Kagome hurried over to the trunk and began to dig around, searching for the little plastic device. She found it, wedged in beside a few wads of foreign money bills. Kagome snatched it without hesitation and flipped it open to look at the screen and see who was calling.

Her mother.

* * *

**AN**: A note on the MSS and PSIA thing I mentioned earlier. Like America has the CIA and FBI, Britain has MI5 and GCHQ, China has MSS (Ministry of State Security), and Japan has the PSIA (Public Security Investigation Agency). Phew. What a mouthful!


	4. The Great Unknown

**Author****s Notes: (Chapter 4 reloaded...)**

I'd like to point out here that the name "Ori" doesn't actually mean anything. I've been asked several times but really, it is just a name. I have been told that "Orri" was another word for dog – but if that's true then it's a coincidence because I'm not proficient enough to figure that out on my own ;;

Also, if you're not getting the "perfect ten" remark, then it's ok, I'm not expecting you to. That will be explained later. I guess only a few sport fans might guess it's association to the way of scoring/grading someone's performance – you know how in ice skating or gymnastics, or a hundred other competitive sports, they'll hold up a score card with marks out of ten? The most perfect scored you can get is simply 10. That's the basic reference, is all. Like I said, all shall be revealed later on.

* * *

**The Sinner**

**Chapter 4**

**The Great Unknown…**

For one agonising, and rather horrifying moment, Kagome was reaching for the red button to turn the phone off – regardless of the fact that her own mother was calling her.

Perhaps it was because she was afraid one of the other pirates would hear the ring tone and come to investigate…?

Kagome would have liked to think that… but in truth, she felt weird talking to her mother now. After the sharp jolt of being tossed into this twisted place with equally twisted people, she felt like she was in a different world already. Her mother was so far away…

Part of her didn't want to believe that this world was real…

Kagome wanted to slap herself. Here she was, in the middle of the East China sea, kidnapped by a bunch of not-as-charming-as-Johnny-Depp pirates, and her only link to land and ultimately, freedom, was in her hand… and she was about to divert the call to her voicemail?!

Quickly, Kagome accepted the call and pressed it to her ear. "Mama?!" she whispered urgently.

"Kagome – thank goodness you're alright!" she heard her mother's wonderfully familiar voice on the other end. "We were so worried about you!" And then she was off, unloading her worries on Kagome, who was left to sit beside the messy bunk beds and pick at her fingernails as she listened. "We heard there was trouble on a news report, and that one teenage girl had been abducted in the raid – we were worried it was you and we went straight off to the port where the passengers were being brought back to – then we saw dear Hojo – did you know he's been shot in the leg by some fiend? – oh, I don't know, honey, we saw him and he told us that _you _were the one who had been abducted and we were so worried that those men could be doing awful things to you at that very moment – but then I realised that we got you the tri-band phone network for your birthday so if you were anywhere in the world I'd be able to contact you – but when they told me you'd been thrown into the water I was worried the phone wouldn't work – but I rang anyway, but you didn't answer, so I rung again and you still didn't answer – and then I rung a third time and here you are and I just wanted to ask if you're-"

"Ok?" Kagome guessed, feeling slightly sorry for putting her mother through so much worry… but feeling ever so slightly more sorry for herself. "That pirate… the one who shot Hojo is the one who kidnapped me. He stole my phone before he threw me overboard and stashed it away in his…" she cringed… "treasure chest…" If he hadn't taken her phone off her on the cruise, it would have drowned along with her.

"Where are you now?" her mother demanded.

"Good question." Kagome looked around. "I'm not seeing any sign posts…"

"I've contacted the police and they're searching the coast for you, honey."

"But I'm not on the coast." Kagome told her as she scrambled up onto the lower bed to peer through the porthole. "I think… I think I'm on a big ship or something in the middle of the sea… I can't see any land… but I can't feel the waves underneath us… I don't know where I am!"

"That's ok, honey, just describe what you see."

"They've shut me in some kind of prison cell with Playboy magazines. That's all I can see. It's horrible!" Kagome gripped the barred window with her free hand. "And outside I can see… um… I don't know what to call it all… there's two levels below me… I think we're suspended over the water – and this place is big, I mean, I can see boats and stuff tied up down there…"

"Isn't there anything else you can possibly tell me…?" her mother pleaded.

"Well…" Her captor's face floated over her mind's eye. "The guy who took me… he looks just like Ori."

"Well… how much like him?" Mrs Higurashi sounded daunted.

"Like, _exactly _like him. But four years older, of course. I thought it was Ori at first, but he's different… he says he's called Inuyasha and that they're actually _twins_." Kagome shook her head in a mixture of confusion and resignation. "But I don't know if I should believe that… I think it _is _him, Mama. You remember how he was always talking about pirates and saying how he was going to be one of them when he grew up-"

"Kagome – he grew out of that."

"But he still wanted to be a pirate – the night he died, h-he-" Kagome choked up slightly. It was always painful talking about the past, but she needed to say what was on her mind. "The night he died, me and Ori had this fight. He said he was going to be a pirate and I said that they didn't exist so he couldn't – yes, I know, I'm eating those words right now, thank you very much, mother. But then he said that they _did_, and that he'd seen one the day before… although, I didn't believe him at the time. And then the next morning his house was gone…"

Her mother sighed softly, a gentle sound of sympathy. "Kagome…"

Kagome's heart pinched slightly, but she shoved the hurt to the back of her mind. "But isn't it suspicious?" she pointed out. "Ori always wanted to be a pirate, and here I am with a pirate who looks _exactly like him!_"

"What if they _are _twins?" Kagome's mother said thoughtfully. "I reckon the police would be able to track him down if they know who his brother was. Although… Ori was adopted so I doubt anyone would be able to find his parents now…"

Her mother didn't like her theory, that much was obvious. But Kagome couldn't cleanse the coincidence from her mind. What if that 'Inuyasha' was Ori, and he just didn't remember? Or worse – what if he did remember and just wanted nothing to do with her or his former life…

But then, if that was true, why would he called her "Kikyo" and kidnap her?

Perhaps Kagome was just desperate to prove Ori was alive… but the obvious facts all blatantly argued otherwise.

The sound of a slamming door somewhere beyond her cell alerted Kagome to the return of her kidnapper. The sound of footsteps drawing nearer confirmed it.

"Mama – I have to go!" she whispered quickly.

"Keep in touch with me, Kagome." Her mother told her firmly. "We'll get you out of there soon enough… you're a brave girl, I'm confident you'll be ok."

Kagome wished she could believe her mother when she said Kagome was brave. In truth, she felt like she was two more surprises short of turning into a puddle of water.

"I love you," she told her mother, meaning each word with every fibre of her heart. Just in case she never saw the woman again.

"I love you too, honey." Her mother sounded emotional. "I _will _see you again."

Kagome ended the call quickly and juggled the phone precariously while she tried to decide where to hide it. Her clothes were a bit too flimsy, and she didn't want to give anyone the wrong idea by hiding it down her bikini bottom.

The footsteps were getting closer.

Kagome saw the only possible answer. She snatched up a rather beaten up looking leather jacket that had been lying on top of the goods in the 'treasure chest' and slipped it on.

She'd only just sat down with her phone in the jacket pocket when the door swung open.

She'd expected her Ori look-alike to be standing there.

But instead there was someone rather different.

"Ah, hello." He seemed pleasant… for a pirate. Long hair – though no where near as long as Ori's twin – was tied back in a short little ponytail at the back of his head. A nice open face… if Kagome met him on the street, she wouldn't have suspected him of larcenous behaviour even in the slightest. "I heard he'd locked you away in our cabin."

"This is a cabin?" Kagome asked flatly, surprised.

"What did you think it was?" he inquired amiably.

"A prison cell?"

He seemed to think that was a joke because he laughed anyway. He was carefully setting down a sports bag inside the trunk behind the door. He noted the broken latch and shattered wood with a faint "Hmmm" but didn't say anything more. The bag he was depositing was probably full of stolen goods like everything else seemed to be.

"Do you… live in here?" Kagome ventured.

He sighed. "A bit drab, isn't it?"

"Only a little…" Kagome eyed a vent high up on the wall that seemed to be leaking… mould?

"Did you realise that was my bed you're sitting on?" he pointed out cheerfully.

"Oh – sorry!" _Better not aggravate the pirate, Kagome. _She jumped up quickly. "I didn't realise-"

"It's ok." He ushered her to sit back down, which she did, and he sat down beside her. "I've never willingly kicked a lovely young woman out of my bed before."

Kagome shuffled a little further away. Clearing her throat, she asked. "Is that Or-Inuyasha's bed?" She pointed up at the top bunk.

"Funny you should ask." He smiled. "Yes, it is."

Great… she was now stuck in a cabin, sharing her limited space with a nut ball and a suspected pervert.

"You knew… Ori, didn't you?"

Kagome blinked at the nameless pirate. "Uh… did you?"

"Only through Inuyasha."

"Does Inuyasha know him?"

"No. I doubt they ever really met after they were sent to different orphanages in two different countries." He shook his head. "We all know that Inuyasha has… _had_ a twin. Identical, was he?"

Kagome nodded with a faint blush. "Yeah… almost exactly the same."

"Almost?"

"Well… Ori was no where near as aggressive and… psychotic as this brother seems to be." Kagome chewed her cheek, wondering why she was just asking for trouble.

"Oh, don't let that gruff act fool you." The young man grinned. "He likes to give the impression that he's tough… but we all know he's a pussy cat when no one's looking."

"But he's like the evil twin." Kagome said shortly.

"Inuyasha's not evil…"

"Yes, I am."

They both started and jerked in synchrony towards the new voice.

Inuyasha.

He stood in the doorway, looking so peeved that Kagome had to wonder if the wind had changed once while he was scowling and now his face was just stuck like that.

"Inuyasha," the pirate beside Kagome called over to him in a friendly manner. "We were just talking about you."

"All good things, I'll bet." Inuyasha's eyes were fixed on Kagome, narrowed and suspicious. Kagome nearly shivered under the intensity. "Beat it, Miroku, I need to talk to her."

The pirate named Miroku stood up with a dramatic sigh. "Really, Inuyasha, you're very rude and uncouth. I'm sure it wouldn't kill you to say 'please' or 'thank you' once in a while."

"Maybe it wouldn't kill me. However, the last person I said 'thank you' to died shortly after." Inuyasha said without blinking.

"In which case, feel free to be as crude as you wish to me." Miroku chortled as he slipped out of the room and shut the door after him.

_Don__t leave me with this psycho! _Kagome wanted to cry out after him, but Inuyasha's lazy sort of glare kept her rigid on the bed. He scared her… but at the same time, she couldn't stop herself from lapping up the sight of him like a greedy cat given a saucer of cream. This was as close as she'd ever get to seeing Ori again…

After a long, overbearing pause, Inuyasha finally spoke. "I'm taking you back to the coast."

Oh good… "When?" Kagome asked warily, not sure whether she should believe him.

He leant back against the door with a thud. "I thought about holding you to ransom… you must have some pretty rich relatives to be on that cruise, right?"

"Well… actually, I'm-"

"But I really can't afford the hassle and danger of messing with the rich fat cats inland." he said with a shrug.

"-rich, very, very rich." Kagome concluded her confession. "Yeah… you probably don't want to mess with my… uh… grandfather. He's very rich. Powerful, and rich. Handsome, too."

"Uh huh." Inuyasha's hands were pressed against the door, hidden behind his back. "You must come from a rich neighbourhood."

"Yes…" Kagome said slowly. "With limousines and uh… big gardens with fountains and driveways – I have my own car."

"Did Ori have his own car?"

That question nearly threw her off balance. "Well… he was only thirteen…"

"But he lived in your 'rich neighbourhood', right?" Inuyasha's gaze was just as intense as before.

Was this some kind of test. Did he _know_ how Ori had lived? Was he trying to trip her up?

Or did he just want to know about a brother he had never met?

Kagome nodded slowly, deciding not to lie… out of pity. "He lived just down the road from me. We saw each other every day…"

She expected him to ask more, but that was it. Inuyasha seemed to have run out of things to say because now his gaze had dropped to the window behind her. He was unreadable.

Tucking her hair behind an ear, Kagome ventured… "So how come you and Ori ended up in different orphanages?"

Inuyasha's gaze slipped back to her. Then he smirked. "You are a hostage, girl. I don't owe you anything, least of all explanations." He had a point. "All I have to do is take you back to shore and leave you there."

Kagome took a shaky breath. "Fine. Sounds good." Although… Kagome felt deflated that she was going to have to leave Ori's twin to the sea. She was already entertaining a little fantasy in which she reintroduced him to land and society and taught him proper manners so he could be just as respectable as his brother was…

But even Kagome knew that she was dreaming of turning him into Ori somehow.

_Just leave this one to lie, Kagome…_

Inuyasha kicked away from the door and opened it with one hand, stepping back to let her through like a supposed gentleman. "Come on, we don't have all day, fish-face." Didn't quite have the gentlemanly talk down pat though…

Kagome held herself with dignity and started across the small cabin. Just as she passed him to step through the door, she heard him comment. "Nice jacket."

"Oh, thank you." What a relief he wasn't angry!

"Glad someone can stomach it. I tried to give it away, but once they found out that I'd dragged it off a floating, and rather boated, corpse… for some reason they didn't want to keep it."

"Oh… nice…" Kagome's smile was forced. Was that why the jacket smelt so funny…?

Well, she couldn't ditch it. She needed it to hide her phone from view.

* * *

Kagome had never felt so hated in her life!

And all that from one short trip down to the 'docks' as they were called. On the way down, Kagome had begun to realise just where she was…

Some kind of rig. An oil rig, judging by the amount of sticky black stains everywhere. But oil seemed to be the last kind of business on these pirates' minds. Actually… as Kagome made her way down the stairs, she realised that _she _herself was the only thing on these pirates' minds.

Hundreds of eyes bored into her as she walked down the stairs after Inuyasha. She was so self-conscious that she felt her legs would just turn to jelly beneath her. The fine hairs along her neck and scalp prickled with warning… telling her to run as fast as she could. But there was no where to run. She was miles and miles from land.

They all seemed to hate her… but why? Was it because she was a hostage? Did they just not like outsiders.

"They think you're Kikyo." Inuyasha said bluntly, as if reading her mind.

"Who… who's Kikyo?" Kagome gripped the stair's railing hard as she looked around at the staring faces of the pirates.

My… what a rough and ugly bunch they were.

"A traitor."

"Is that why… you were so mean when you saw me?" Kagome ventured, only listening to their conversation half-heartedly. She was wondering which one of those pirates would pick up their gun first to shoot her.

Kagome was busy eyeing a particularly nasty looking man on a level above her when she bumped unceremoniously into Inuyasha's broad back. Kagome quickly gasped an apology which cut itself off before she'd finished saying it… because just then she'd turned in time to see… _him_.

"I see… the resemblance is striking. Especially up close. I'm not surprised you were fooled, Inuyasha." His voice was like audible silk.

Kagome looked him up and down from the relative safety behind Inuyasha. "Who are you… sir?" She added the 'sir' simply because he looked important.

"Naraku. I am leader here." He seemed fairly charming… in a creepy, hair tingling way.

"Oh, so you're like the captain?" Kagome guessed.

Inuyasha groaned loudly at the reference to the traditional hierarchy of pirates, but Naraku simple smiled quietly. "In a way, yes." He glanced at Inuyasha. "You're taking her back to her people, Inuyasha?"

"Yeah, whatever…" Inuyasha shrugged and looked away.

"Hurry back," Naraku moved on. "And remember what I said earlier about being careful…"

Kagome waited until she was sure this 'leader' was out of earshot before she leaned forward to whisper to Inuyasha. "He's kinda weird."

"You're weirder." he responded bluntly and carried on towards the docks. Kagome hurried after him, eager not to be left behind with all these staring pirates.

Jeez… Kikyo really was an unpopular gal around here.

Inuyasha led her to the very same yacht she'd seen him sail in earlier that day. As he jumped down nimbly onto the boarding platform at the back, Kagome noticed the bold black lettering along the side. "The Sinner, huh? How fitting."

"Get in already." Inuyasha was already beginning to loosen the knot around the mooring peg.

Kagome hurried to the edge and carefully climbed down. She wasn't so confident as to jump the way he had. She stood beside him, looking around the yacht warily. "Isn't anyone coming with us."

"No." he said shortly, dropping the thick rope onto the deck.

"But…" _I__m not sure I trust myself to you in a small boat like this… all alone…_

Once again, Inuyasha showed that remarkable talent of being able to read her thoughts. He smirked at her as he brushed past her. "Don't worry. The thought of touching you in any way sends shivers of revulsion down my spine."

Kagome huffed. Charming! "Yeah, well… I… um… you send shivers down my spine too – uh – not in a good way either… ! Oh, damn it…"

Unfortunately, he'd already disappeared up a flight of steps before Kagome could think of a wittier comeback. The helm was up there, above the cabin. Kagome figured as much when she heard the engine rev and they started to move off. She nearly unbalanced and fell straight into the water, but she caught her hand against the rail in time and watched as the edge of the dock began falling away.

Soon she had a full view of the rig… and decided that, yes, it was an oil rig. She ought to tell the police about this… if only she knew where the hell this rig was!

Rather than go and join the evil twin up on deck, she decided to head into the cabin.

That's when she realised that this was no ordinary yacht. This was a _luxury_ yacht.

Kagome blanched when she saw the fridge, the TV, the sink, and _the_ _fruit bowl_! She saw a door marked as the bathroom – and further along she could see that there was even a _double_ bed at the very front of the cabin. The sitting area, opposite the TV, with it's own table looked big enough to sleep on too… it was basically a curved sofa anyway…

Everything was polished mahogany with mirrors lining the walls to give the illusion of even more room.

Kagome wandered through the cabin, noticing how smoothly the yacht travelled, but she still clung onto the handy handrail that lined the walls and counters. She only staggered slightly as Inuyasha hit a particularly large wave, but carried on her way over to the kitchen of sorts. She plucked an orange from the bowl and was surprised to find it was real…

"To keep away the scurvy, I bet…" she commented dryly as she put it back. There was a drawer beneath the counter with biscuits in it, just begging to be eaten, so she helped herself to a couple as she went to sit down on the sofa. The remote control for the Telly was built into the armrest of the sitting area and Kagome randomly hit buttons in order to figure out how it worked…

Nothing was on… it was mostly just static and snow. The only channel that was broadcasting anything viewable was showing a Chinese game show which she had trouble following.

Feeling a bit like Goldilocks in the house of the three bears, Kagome worked her way through the yacht until she found herself trying out the bed for size. It was just perfect. Never slept in. It was covered with pristine white silk and now that she looked at it, it was actually… heart shaped?

Inuyasha had stolen this off some kind of Pimp, hadn't he?

Eventually Kagome had run out of things to fiddle with and so decided to risk joining Inuyasha. She left the cabin through the sliding glass doors and went up the steps to the top deck. She paused on the last step and simply stopped to stare, unbeknownst to him. His hair was magnificent. Exactly the same as Ori's, but slightly longer. It was still the same style though…

Even now she could see him steering the ship with one hand while he rested his other elbow against the helm, thumb pressed under his chin and fingers clasped over his mouth. Kagome knew that a lot of people sat like that… but why did everything this guy do remind her of that thirteen year old she used to know so well?

It was odd… two boys who had never met beyond the delivery room seemed to share a lot of habits that seemed statistically impossible. But you heard about that kind of thing all the time… how twins, separated at birth, met up later on in life and discovered how much they had in common.

Not for the first time, Kagome wondered again why they'd ever been separated in the first place. Why had Ori gone to the orphanage in Kagome's district… while his brother had gone to an orphanage in another country entirely…?

Had Ori known he'd had a twin brother?

No… Kagome was sure he would have told her if he'd known. She was his best friend. He'd told her everything.

Kagome pulled herself together with a quick, but firm, shake of the head. She marched over to seat herself beside Inuyasha. "So." she said in a more confident tone than she really felt. "How long till we get to the coast?"

"I figure a day or two… maybe three…" was his vague reply. Kagome barely heard him over the mixed sounds of the engine, the waves and the wind.

"That long?!" she squawked.

"God, that's really unattractive."

Feeling slightly dismayed, Kagome headed below deck to retreat into the cabin. Maybe in two days she could figure out enough Mandarin to follow the game show…

* * *

It was getting dark, and although Inuyasha had no trouble travelling by night, he just didn't feel in the mood to do so. Yes, he wanted to get rid of the girl as soon as possible, but he wasn't going to run himself ragged for her. As far as he was concerned, she could just throw herself overboard and they'd all be happy (apart from her family and friends who might be a little upset, of course)… but Inuyasha knew he couldn't do that… yet. They weren't far enough away from the rig. If her corpse floated by Naraku's office, his boss wouldn't be a very happy bunny.

Besides, he didn't want to ruin his 'perfect ten'.

With a wide yawn, Inuyasha pulled the key from the ignition and rubbed his eyes absently as the yacht slid to a halt in the water. The sea was calm so he didn't feel the need to bother with the anchor. He doubted it would reach the sea floor anyway. It was just a yacht, after all…

He found the hostage girl slumped over the table in the seating area, apparently engrossed in some tacky game show. She glanced at him as he entered. "Why did we stop?"

"Sharks attack travelling boats at night." he teased, though she didn't know that…

"Really…?" She chewed her lip.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he went to the fridge and got himself a soda. The girl noticed this too.

"Oh – can I have-?"

He tossed his soda haphazardly at her and got himself another one. He watched with a certain degree of amusement as the girl's bubbled and overflowed as she opened it. "Thanks…" she said slowly, glaring at him.

"Don't mention it."

Kagome wrinkled her nose as she flicked her soda-coated fingers. Great… now she was going to have to squeeze into that mosquito sized bathroom and clean up. Well… she would have, if her kidnapper hadn't cut off her route by plonking himself down on the seat beside her. With the table in front of her, and an armrest barring her in the other way, Kagome was at a loss.

She was more at a loss of how to deal with the person sitting next to her…

He was just so… so… beyond what she was used to dealing with.

But he didn't seem too interested in making conversation with her, which Kagome was quite relieved about. He just kicked back, feet on the table and soda balanced on his stomach with his hands behind his head. Every now and then he'd free a hand to take a lethargic sip, eyes on the Telly.

Kagome was his exact counterpart. She sat perched on the edge of her seat, soda clasped tightly on her knees with pale fingers while her eyes darted just about everywhere except the TV and the seadog. Her teeth worried the inside of her cheek anxiously as she fidgeted as if in discomfort.

"Would you just sit still for more than ten seconds?" Inuyasha sounded annoyed, but at least he didn't bother glaring at her.

Kagome sent him one wary look before realising his attention was solely on the TV. She followed his gaze and frowned…

She needed to break the silence.

"So… do you understand what they're saying?" she asked stiffly.

He sighed loudly. "Mostly."

Impressive. Kagome refrained from fidgeting a little more. "Where'd you learn?" But she bit her tongue after she said it. He'd lived in the China Sea all his life right? Ships from all kinds of nations must dwell in these waters – he'd be pretty handicapped if he could only speak one language. A pirate needed to say "Hand over all your treasure or else!" in at least five different languages in order to be get anywhere, right?

"I was born in Shanghai." Inuyasha said shortly. "It was my first language."

"Oh…" Did that mean Ori was born there too? "So… it's your mother tongue? Well – you speak very good Japanese. You don't even have an accent."

He gave her a half-hearted glare.

Kagome fell quiet, wondering if she'd somehow offended him. But Inuyasha had that blunt, curt manner that suggested everything she did and said was somehow an offence. But what he'd said made a little sense now…

She'd first known Ori when he was all of four year old, and back then Kagome's mother had said that the boy hadn't spoken much and didn't seem to understand what people said to him. They thought it was a learning disability or something… but Kagome didn't remember that far back. The earliest memories she had of Ori was a total chatterbox who wouldn't shut up. Her mother said that the boy seemed to have learnt quickly, but his guardians had suspected he was a child of some kind of illegal immigrant since he occasionally babbled in a foreign tongue. They'd never specified which.

Kagome carried on watching the game show in silence with Inuyasha, and even though Kagome was the only one who couldn't understand it, she was probably the only one who enjoyed it. The show wasn't that hard to follow, after all. The host asked questions, and the three contestants answered until there was only one left. Then after some intense lighting effects and long drawn out pauses between the hard questions and the answers, there was confetti and the contestant drove out of the studio in a car.

"I guess he won." Kagome commented.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and punched the 'off' button on the control panel. The TV clicked off instantly, leaving a little white dot in the middle of the large blank screen. "I'm going to bed…" he informed her bluntly as he stood up and trundled off towards the other end of the cabin where the double bed lay.

"Me too…" His departure now gave Kagome a free passage out from the seating area. Eager to clean the soda off her hands, she shuffled towards the end and headed for the bathroom. Inuyasha spotted her approach and glared at her.

"You're not joining me, ya know."

Kagome took a step backwards, horrified. "I wasn't even _thinking _about that! I was just on my way to the bathroom!"

Inuyasha scoffed and flopped down onto the mattress. "Yeah, _sure _you were."

Was that a hint of sarcasm? Kagome gaped at him in outrage, hundreds of witty comebacks and insults just screaming to be yelled… but his sheer arrogance had stumped her.

So she settled for the generic offended-maiden insult. "You arrogant bastard, you!"

She flounced toward the bathroom and slammed the door after her, just to let him know that he had truly pissed her off.

Once there she slammed the cover down over the toilet and sat down in a huff, smouldering quietly to herself.

What an irritating person he was… it seemed that his habits and looks were all he had in common with her Ori. Ori had been a lovely boy… prone to short temper tantrums and selfishness with his toys, but his heart was always in the right place. Inuyasha was just… just… the flip side of the coin! The dark side of the moon! He was yang! He was a real pirate to all Ori's dreaming of being one… and he was a complete asshole!

Kagome clapped her hands over her head, remembering how terrified she'd been when that machine gun had been turned on her. Well… less terrified and more incredibly numb. Kagome had the habit of falling out of reality when bad things like that happened, becoming detached and merely an onlooker to the terrifying experience. She hadn't been all that scared when Inuyasha had been on the verge of killing her… she'd been too shocked to register that she was in serious trouble.

Of course now she realised how close she had come to death, and _now _she was belatedly terrified about what had happened. Ori's twin was as dangerous as they came… just because Inuyasha was related to someone nice didn't make him nice. The same way Hitler's mother was quite nice, but did that help dear little Hitler in any way?

Kagome decided it must have been Inuyasha's upbringing. Ori grew up in a secure family, surrounded by friends and loving guardians. As far as she could tell, Inuyasha had been raised by these barbarians he'd call 'comrades'. But she really didn't know enough to make these judgements… for all she knew, Inuyasha had been adopted by a lovely Chinese family and was brought up in a respectable home…

_Maybe_, Kagome thought as her imagination began to run away with her, _maybe his adoptive family was killed in a horrible act of murder and he had pledged his allegiance to these fiends in order to find their killers and bring them to justice!_

Or maybe – and this was more likely – he had been a terror to his adoptive family, left home at fourteen and joined the pirates for fun, as all renegade teenage boys must dream of doing.

Well… he may have been dangerous and disturbed, but at least he was taking her home. She felt sorry for 'Kikyo', whoever she was… if that girl ever came across Inuyasha, would he really go through with it and blow her brains out with a machine gun? Kagome had just been lucky this time…

Kagome shivered slightly as a new thought crept up on her…

If Inuyasha would have killed Kikyo, someone he evidently knew, without any remorse or hesitation… then what was stopping him from dispatching Kagome, merely for being a nuisance? Why go to all the trouble of bringing her back to her country if it would be so much easier for him to just put a bullet in her head and dump her in the ocean?

Better not ask him why… it might give him ideas. Who knew, maybe Inuyasha was actually incredibly dumb and hadn't thought about bumping her off yet. Kagome was going to be the last person to suggest it to him anyway…

But… what if it was because he thought she was a millionaire? Maybe he thought he'd get a reward and a pat on the head for bringing her home…? Ok, not after kidnapping her, but Kagome was still entertaining the idea that he was stupendously thick.

But then she remembered with Hojo had once told her.

Hojo had a younger sister, a sister who was always having trouble holding onto boyfriends, merely because their grandfather kept threatening them. "You don't mess around with rich girls because their rich grandfathers will come after you with SWAT teams and sniper guns!" Hojo had once joked to her.

Strange how that grandfather never had any problem with _Kagome _dating Hojo… perhaps he was just old fashioned and only felt he had to worry about the boys…

But either way, perhaps that was why Inuyasha was going to such lengths to return her. If Kagome disappeared into the sea, her 'rich grandfather' might just spend a couple million on bringing her killer to justice. A pirate wouldn't stand a chance…

Well, if that was the case, Kagome was just going to have to maintain her person of 'rich granddaughter'. As long as he didn't figure out that she was simply the daughter of a shrine's caretaker, all would be well and she would be returned to land without a hitch.

Yes, that was the plan.

Kagome dipped a hand into her pocket and carefully changed the settings on her phone. She didn't want it ringing again and alerting Inuyasha, so she changed it to silent. If her mother ever tried to contact her, the phone would only vibrate in her pocket.

She toyed with the idea of calling her mother, but decided against it. Her experience with Ori had taught her that he had exceptional hearing. His brother would be no different if they really had the same ears.

Instead, she slipped the phone away again and stood up to try and wash her hands. She was surprised to find that the water was clean, not salty… obviously there must have been some kind of fresh water supply hidden away. But the problem came when she couldn't find a soap bar… fresh water just wasn't going to cut it with soda.

Kagome began to hunt around the small bathroom. There was a cupboard behind her, but the only thing in there were a few towels, a bath hat and a sponge. There was also some shower gel on the top shelf, but Kagome wasn't sure she would resign herself to that… after all, she'd just spotted another hidden cupboard on the floor beside the toilet. Kagome closed the cupboard and got down on her knees to open the trapdoor-like hatch. The board lifted clean away and Kagome set it on the bog seat before looking down.

What she saw made her heart leap into her throat and her eyes widen to resemble golf balls.

Apparently, her clanging around had irritated Inuyasha. Again. "What the hell are you doing in there?!" he yelled from his bed, no doubt.

Kagome swallowed hard and sat up quickly, scrambling to cover the hatch again, unable to tear her gaze away. Once the hatch was covered again she slumped against the wall, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Oh my god…" she whispered to herself.

She stood up slowly and opened the cupboard again to take down the shower gel. That would have to do for now. As she meticulously began washing her hands, she kept glancing down at the hidden trapdoor beside the toilet. Did Inuyasha know it was there? Probably…

Kagome finished washing her hands and dried them with a towel from the cupboard. Inuyasha was still stretched out on his bed when she exited the bathroom, seemingly oblivious to her most recent discovery.

His eyes cracked open and glanced towards her. Kagome looked away quickly. "Have fun?" he asked dryly.

"All kinds." she responded, wondering if he really did know about the hatch and had guessed her discovery. She decided to put it out of mind. Looking towards the sofa, she frowned a little. "Can I have a blanket, at least?"

"Don't be such a fucking wimp." Inuyasha pulled a face and rolled over, away from her. "You can go without creature comforts for one night."

But… it was surprisingly chilly in the cabin and Kagome didn't fancy sleeping with only a smelly leather jacket of suspicious origins. However, Inuyasha was the boss and her freedom depended on keeping him in a good mood. Meekly, she turned off the lights and went over to the sofa to lay down.

It was awkward… the sofa curved, making her curve with it… and it wasn't all that soft or comfy. _Not as soft as Inuyasha__s bed_, she thought with a hint of envy.

In the silent cabin, Kagome began to notice the sounds outside as if hearing them for the first time, but she knew they had been a background noise ever since they'd stopped. The distant sigh of the ocean was faint, but just about audible. Waves lapped against the boat, swaying it gently with nearer, more noticeable sounds of slaps and gurgles against the yacht's hull. The breeze was louder than anything though, and she could feel it blowing against the porthole window behind her.

Kagome thought about all the sea creatures that could be swimming beneath her at that very moment, and she cringed. Sharks… squid… jellyfish… and what about all those horrifying looking creatures that dwelt at the very bottom in the pitch darkness?

For the first time, Kagome was painfully aware of the huge expanse of simple _space _beneath her. God only knew how deep the ocean went… and the thought of jumping overboard and sinking into those icy black depths terrified her. She'd never felt this anxious on the cruise… maybe because that had been a massive ocean liner and this was one dinky little boat, closer to the waves.

But fear of death was something that had plagued Kagome since Ori had died… and over the past day or so, she'd faced it too many times.

It caused her to squeak in a very quiet voice… "Please don't kill me in my sleep…"

She got only silence as her response.

Sitting up, Kagome pressed, "Inuyasha?"

"Of for – I won't! You're too damn expensive to kill!" his angry voice grumbled back to her.

Slightly more at ease, Kagome settled down again. "Good… thanks." At least now her suspicions had been confirmed. Her money was the only thing keeping her alive…

Now, if only she _had _money…!

Kagome still didn't sleep a wink that night.


	5. Shark Bites

**Author's Notes: **And there you have it. All five chapters uploaded again. Sorry about the delay!

* * *

**The Sinner**

**Chapter 5**

**Shark Bites**

By the time Kagome had finally fallen asleep, the sky was already starting to light up with a new day. It must have been at least five o'clock in the morning before her nerves had started to calm down and exhaustion took over. She would have fallen asleep earlier… if that _thing _hadn't bumped against the boat. Kagome still had no idea what it was, but it sounded big, and had brushed against the hull once with a muffled _thump_ before it was gone…

What if it had been a shark… or the Loch Ness Monster…?

Inuyasha hadn't been even perturbed in the slightest. He'd carried on sleeping, dead to the world. Obviously he felt no reason to fear her, or keep watch over her. But what was to stop Kagome from fetching one of the kitchen knives and slitting his throat open while he slept?

Well… Kagome's morals and squeamishness were probably the most prominent things stopping her.

He undoubtedly figured she was a wimp, too, so maybe that was why he slept like a baby.

Eventually, Kagome managed to get at least a good five hours worth of sleep and woke up as the day was pushing towards noon. She sat up with a wide yawn and a crack of joints before blearily blinking around the cabin. Inuyasha was gone, the bathroom door was ajar, and so were the green tinged glass doors at the entrance of the cabin. Outside she could see it was a lovely day outside and the chill that she'd felt last night was chased away.

Movement above her head told Kagome that Inuyasha was up on deck. What he was doing was beyond her because the boat was still stationary. He was definitely doing something up there…

Kagome decided it wasn't any of her business, and simply tried to go about her usual morning routine in such an unusual set of circumstances. Her first trip was to the bathroom, where one peek down the hidden hatch told her that those… things… were still there. Inuyasha hadn't moved them… if he even knew they were there. This was also decidedly none of Kagome's business, so she quietly put the hatch down and set about brushing her teeth.

There was only one toothbrush… wet and used… but Kagome had never had an issue with using other people's toothbrushes.

She'd rather do the job properly than with her finger… and anyway, Inuyasha had a nice set of pearly fangs, and he didn't seem to have any bad breath issues either. So Kagome happily plundered the toothbrush…

But when it came to the toothpaste, Kagome just groaned.

Didn't that guy know how to squeeze the tube? Everyone knew that you had to squeeze it from the end; otherwise you'd run out faster!

Not only that but he was one of those men who left the toilet seat up. Kagome muttered something unflattering as she set the seat back in its original position and went about cleaning the sink.

Just as she was beginning to clear the gunk out of the plughole, the pocket of her new leather coat began to vibrate. At once, Kagome stiffened and looked down at the jacket in dumfounded horror. What did she do now?

She was almost certain that Inuyasha would hear if she started talking to herself. She could almost hear him scratching his backside from the bathroom anyway – and with his superior hearing…?

Quietly, Kagome took the phone out and looked at the screen. The mobile didn't recognise the number calling… so it wasn't her mother. But what if it was Hojo? Or Hojo's grandfather? Or even the police?!

Kagome couldn't risk it.

She turned the phone off quietly and put it away, no one the wiser of her little accessory.

With nothing more to do, Kagome trailed reluctantly out of the bathroom and headed up the steps to see why Inuyasha hadn't already made headway back to the coast. She was surprised to see, when she reached the top step, that getting to the coast seemed to be the furthest thing from his mind.

He was fishing.

Kagome cleared her throat to announce her presence, even though her fairy footsteps up the stairs – or more like elephant footsteps – had probably given her away. Inuyasha didn't bother acknowledging her little cough either.

"What are you doing?" she asked pleasantly, determined to keep the feeling between them a good one. She dreaded the thought of making this guy her enemy.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he slanted her a 'What planet are you on?' sneer.

"Oh…" She took a few steps forward. "I didn't know there were any fish to catch out here…"

"Where else will fish be if not in the sea?" he said lightly, as if quoting some kind of Doctor Seuss rhyme.

He was infuriating - shooting down all her peacekeeping attempts like that. "You know what I meant." She herself barely knew what she meant. With a sigh, Kagome sat down in the pilot's chair and gazed at the boy perched on the windshield above her. "Catch anything?"

For a moment, he seemed as though he was going to ignore her – but then his chin jerked in the direction behind him and Kagome followed his vague point.

Under that green plastic sheet, maybe?

Kagome went over to take a look, lifting the edge of the sheet to peek underneath. She dropped the corner in shock as she stood upright rather sharply. "That – that's huge!!"

Whipping off the rest of the sheet, Kagome tried to get a measure of the huge water creature. Five feet long at least – that was almost as tall as she was! And what on earth was it? It looked like a wilder, yet duller skinned version of a trout… but with teeth…

"What is it?" Kagome asked, staring in aghast wonder.

"Shark."

Just then, the shark flapped its tail and wiggled its gills. Kagome yelped and leapt away. "Throw it back! It's still alive!"

She heard Inuyasha sigh and drop his fishing rod to join her. "Tough bugger, isn't he…?"

He picked up what looked like one of the backup oars and made his way towards the shark. Kagome flinched and had to look away as he brought the aluminium spade end down on the creature's head.

It sounded messy… it sounded gross… and Kagome felt her stomach revolt against her when the boat tilted over a wave and a shark head came rolling past her.

"I think I'm going to be sick…" she whispered.

"You have no stomach." Inuyasha accused, admiring his handiwork.

"Oh – I have a stomach – it's working its way up my throat!" And with that, she ran to the side of the yacht and began heaving over the edge.

Inuyasha stared at the retching girl blankly. Well… throwing up at the sight of blood and guts wasn't new to him. As he seemed to recall Miroku doing the same thing after seeing someone gut a fish. Then there was that time when Sango threw up after seeing a treacherous pirate have his hand cut off by Naraku…

Maybe it was just a weak human constitution?

Eventually the girl's stomach emptied itself completely and she slumped to the deck looking pale and drained. She was even trembling slightly, probably from such a violent upheaval of her stomach contents. But her dilemma wasn't over.

"Hope you're feeling better." Inuyasha said sweetly as he slung the blood soaked oar over his shoulder.

The girl glanced at him warily. "I am… thanks… oh… dear god…" She suddenly turned quite green when she realised she was sitting beside the shark's head.

"Good." Inuyasha rotated the pole between his hands, making the scooped end twirl behind him. "Because I don't want the girl who's cooking my dinner to throw up all over it."

This earned him the most deadpan look he'd ever received in his life.

"What?" she asked in a flat monotone.

"You. Are. Making. Dinner." He bent down and lifted the body of the shark by one fin. He dangled it as if in temptation. "You know you want to-"

"Are you crazy?!" She was suddenly on her feet again. "I'm not eating _that_!!"

"Why not?" He looked at the dead shark as if trying to find something wrong with it. Inside, he could barely contain his mirth at the merciless teasing. "Looks ok to me."

"But it's _shark_!"

"And?"

"It has teeth!"

"Yes, but they're by your feet. We're not eating them."

"How can you eat something that would eat you?!"

"That shark has never eaten anyone in it's life…" He set the oar down and put a thoughtful claw to the shark's belly. "Maybe we should make sure-"

"No – don't!" she screamed and he stopped obligingly. He had no desire to get shark guts all over his feet anyway.

"There's nothing else to eat." He slung the corpse down on the deck between them. It hit the boards with a wet slap. "It's gonna have to be shark. They're surprisingly tasty. Like chicken." Really tough, stringy chicken on supplemented steroid therapy perhaps…

"No way." She was shaking her head emphatically. "Just – no way am I touching that thing!"

"You'll have to if you're going to cook it."

"Why can't you cook it?!"

_Because I couldn't cook to save my life!_ Not that she had to know that…"Because I'm the man and you're the woman! I'm the hunter and you're the gatherer – I'm the kidnapper and you're the whiner! Get it?!"

"You total chauvinist!" she cried, clutching the railing behind her as if her stomach was about to do another rebellion. "Just because you look like Ori – and just because you're his twin – doesn't mean that I have to treat you with the same respect that I treated him with!"

Inuyasha was getting pretty tired about hearing just how fabulous his brother was. The guy would probably have grown up to be another wimp – like that excuse for a man he'd shot on the cruise liner.

"I don't want your respect – I want your culinary skills and obedience." He raised his chin. "Besides – if you don't do as I say, I'll dump you in the ocean – right here, right now."

The girl gaped at him, but did and said nothing more.

She wasn't accommodating his request either. He took one rather threatening step towards her –

"Alright!" She waved her hands to keep him at bay. "I'll cook the damn fish… though I should probably warn you that I've never cooked shark before and I don't know what setting the oven will need."

The oven had settings? Apparently, she was already more advanced in shark cooking than Inuyasha was…

"Good."

The matter was settled.

* * *

It was still another two days worth of travelling time till they reached the coast, but Inuyasha was in no hurry. He didn't plan on going all the way to the coast anyhow. The first ship that came along would be the lucky new taxi for the princess downstairs. Going all the way to the coast himself in a vessel which was registered as stolen would be a pretty risky and rather stupid move. Someone else would have to do it – persuaded at gunpoint if necessary.

Inuyasha scratched an itch behind his ear and stretched his stiffening muscles. He went back to sunning himself on the dome shaped bow with his back against the coaming, listening to the occasional thuds, crashes and mild curses that drifted up from below deck.

His eyes popped open when a particularly loud crash jolted him out of his pleasant reverie. Inuyasha titled his head and looked behind him, blinking slowly at the black smoke that was now funnelling out of the back of the boat.

He smirked to himself. "Need any help?" he called.

"Back! Off!" was the rather flustered comeback.

Inuyasha's smirk widened as he shrugged and went back to his relaxing position against the windshield.

* * *

_Is that… edible?_

Inuyasha warily eyed the plate that Kagome set down before him, watching some unidentifiable brown liquid slosh around the chunk of shark meat. At least, he hoped it was shark meat. He didn't put it past the girl to have actually cooked a lump of quartz for him.

Kagome sat down with a huff beside him and they both paused as they locked glares.

"I hate you." Inuyasha told her.

"Eat your dinner." she snapped irritably, pushing a stray bang behind her ear as she set about trying to get her knife through the meat.

Inuyasha returned his attention to his 'meal' and began picking at it with his fork. The slab of meat slid around on his plate and he couldn't help but wrinkle his nose.

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Kagome exploded. "Don't eat it if you can't stand it!"

Just to spite her, Inuyasha sent her a wayward glare before finally pulling off a stringy morsel and holding it before him on his fork. He popped it into his mouth and chewed as he stared off into space. Kagome was watching him intensely. "Well…?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "It's not the worst I've had the pleasure of eating…" After all, he'd been eating meals stolen off prison ships for the last few months… but his comment made her relax.

And that was no fun.

So he added, "It's not the best either."

"How unfortunate you didn't kidnap Delia Smith or Martha Stewart." Kagome commented dryly, but she didn't seem too keen on eating the meal she'd cooked either. "I don't like shark." she finally declared.

"Too bad. We're going to eat it tomorrow as well."

"No, we won't." she said bluntly. "I threw it away."

"What, in the bin?" Inuyasha peered over to the kitchen to see if there was a whopping great shark tail poking out of said disposal unit.

"No, overboard." She jerked her head towards an open porthole above the small kitchen sink.

Inuyasha scoffed, setting down his knife and fork with a clang. "You couldn't lift the damn fish up enough to throw it out – you should have just put it in the freezer!"

"Your 'freezer' – and I used that term loosely – is the size of a shoebox! I cannot fit a five-foot shark in a shoebox! And I cannot eat this crap anyway, so I chopped it up into fish food and threw it out the window!" She slammed down her cutlery and folded her arms.

"That's a waste!" Inuyasha argued.

"Not for the cannibalistic sharks it's not!"

"Well, if that's your attitude, I won't bother catching dinner for you tomorrow." Inuyasha mirrored her pose by folding his arms.

"Good – because aren't you supposed to be getting me _home _tomorrow?" she pointed out. "You have yet to even _start_ the engine today!"

"I can't travel on an empty stomach!" He slammed his palm down on the table – rather primitively, Kagome felt.

"And you can't expect a hostage to satisfy all your needs!" she barked back.

"Oh, really? Why do you think I kidnapped a pretty girl then?"

In a flash, Kagome had snatched up her fork and was stabbing it towards his hand – if Inuyasha hadn't pulled it back so fast, he would have found himself pinned to the table. "Bitch!" he exclaimed as the metal prongs of the fork bounced off the hard plastic table. It indented the surface slightly.

"I'm not scared of you – so don't you dare make suggestions or innuendos like that… even if you _did _say I was pretty, you should keep comments like that to yourself!" Kagome's temper had flared to dangerous heights… but so had Inuyasha's.

Civilians who talked back were dangerous. For some reason, he wasn't instilling the fear as well as before.

Grabbing the girl's neck in one hand and snatching the fork out of her fingers with the other, Inuyasha pushed her down against the seat. He straddled her waist and pushed the fork against her throat… Kagome could do little more than yelp her surprise, protest and struggle fruitlessly against his hold.

"Do _not _mistake me for that prissy little boyfriend of yours!" Inuyasha hissed, pressing the fork harder and watching the fear seep back into her eyes. "I may look like him, but don't you dare think that I am capable of being as soft as that little land lover was! Look how far it got him! There are only two ways to survive in this world – you either make the rules or you obey them! So if you don't start respecting the law I lay down, then _one of us_ is going to be very sorry."

The fork's pressure against her throat was beginning to verge on painful. Kagome closed her eyes and nodded quickly, sorry she had ever started to take for granted that Inuyasha was anything like the boy she used to know. It was simply because he looked like Ori… she almost felt that she could be forthright and bold with him.

But she was wrong. Very wrong.

Inuyasha was not a person to be pushed.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered hoarsely, even though she didn't mean it in the slightest. She averted her eyes… partly to add to the apologetic look, but mostly because she couldn't bear to look at him. If she did, she would only see Ori threatening her.

"Good. Now perhaps you'll start obeying the rules and stop telling me what not to say. If you can do that one simple task then maybe I can keep my promise to return you safely to your home." Inuyasha released her roughly and all but stepped over her to exit the small seating area. "Glad we've reached an understanding."

_If that's what you want to call it…_ Kagome tried not to let her resentment and contempt show on her face until he was well out of sight.

Kagome remained on the uncomfortable little sofa, listening to his footsteps on the upper deck. A few more moments after that and she heard the engine roar into life, feeling its vibrations all around her. Then they were moving…

This was probably a better time than ever to contact her mother.

Still feeling a little bitter and crestfallen, Kagome pushed herself up off the sofa and padded over to the small bathroom, mindful of the lurching yacht. Once in the bathroom, she bolted the door and sat down on the toilet, taking out her precious phone as she did so.

At once she had dialled her mother's number and sat anxiously, a finger plugged in her one ear to block out the engine as she listened to the dial tone with the other.

"Kagome?" her mother's wonderfully soft (if not slightly panicked and breathless) voice answered.

Hearing the stain in her mother's tone, Kagome quickly tried to tell her the current plan to bring her home. "Mama, you won't believe this-!"

"Kagome, listen to me," Her mother didn't even seem to have registered what she'd said. "I'm with the police – because after we last spoke, I contacted them and I told them that you had been captured by Ori's twin. They know his name – it's Inuyasha, isn't it?"

"Yes…" Kagome frowned slightly.

"The police want to talk to you – they keep saying that you need to bring him in-"

"When _I'm _the one who's been kidnapped?" Kagome hissed. "Don't they want to bring me in first?"

"Yes, but for some reason they think it's urgent that Inuyasha be on land." Her mother sounded clueless on the matter.

"So they can arrest him?"

"No… they said they want to _protect _him."

This had floored Kagome completely. In fact, she slipped straight off the toilet seat to crumple on the floor. "What…?"

"I have no idea… they didn't explain it – oh… the constable wants to talk to you."

Before Kagome could even utter the simplest of goodbyes, a new voice was on the phone.

"Now, Kagome, it's very important that you listen to me." Everyone was saying that… as if Kagome would get distracted and start painting her nails. But the man sounded pleasant. He had a deep gentle kind of voice, a voice she tried to match with a face. She reckoned he had a beard… "You need to tell us where you are."

Her hand met her forehead with a sound clap. "I don't _know _where I am." she said in an even tone.

"Every vessel has a navigational system at the helm that displays the exact coordinates of longitude and latitude, wherever you happen to be in the world-"

"But that's up on deck and he said that if he saw me again today, he was going to drive a fork through my neck." Kagome told him curtly.

"Ah… best stay out of his way then."

"Thank you." Kagome sighed loudly.

"Is it true that your kidnapper is in actual fact Inuyasha, the twin of the boy you used to know?"

"Yes, pretty much." Kagome ran her hand anxiously through her hair.

"Our sources indicate that he is originally from China, and has spent most of his life at sea."

"I think so." That's what everyone else was saying.

"So are you aware that Inuyasha may actually know his parents?"

Kagome blinked. "His parents…? I don't… no, I don't think he does. Some guy told me that he was from an orphanage too…"

"I see…" There was a deep sigh from the other end. "And is there no way you can escape?"

"Unless I swim for it… which I don't think I'll try because there happen to be sharks around here… I just ate one."

"I see…"

Kagome quickly went on. "But he says he's bringing me back home."

"Good. And is there any way you can tell us where to intercept him? We need to bring him in."

"I told you – I have no idea where I am, other than the East China Sea, and two, maybe three days away from the coast! But for all I know, we could be going to Europe!" Kagome gasped, exasperated. "And how come you're more interested in finding him rather than me?!"

"Kagome, it is in our interests to return you safely, but if there is any way for you to lead Inuyasha to us, then we would be most grateful. It's for his protection." the officer told her quietly.

"Why are you trying to protect him?" Kagome frowned. "He's a criminal – aren't you supposed to put people like him in prison?"

"These are orders from higher up, Kagome." was the blunt response. "I only have the instructions that Inuyasha needs to be protected from his brother."

"His brother is dead – there's not a lot a dead boy can-"

"Not that brother. His _older_ brother. Sesshomaru."

Kagome let her head fall back against the toilet, quietly amazed at how well Ori had turned out with such a screwy family behind him. "An older brother… who wants to hurt Inuyasha, I suppose?"

"I believe so. In any case, Inuyasha needs to be kept away from Sesshomaru… we also believe that your friend was, in actual fact, killed by this older brother."

Kagome's heart stopped. Her chest squeezed painfully. "What…?"

"Sesshomaru seems to be systematically hunting down the two brothers and his target is now-"

"No!" Kagome interrupted him. "Are you telling me that Ori was _murdered_? By his _brother_?!"

"We know this must be hard for you-"

"Break it to me softly, why don't you?!" Kagome had to remember to keep her voice down. She had no idea just how keen Inuyasha's ears were, even over the engine.

"Sesshomaru is a pirate, just like Inuyasha. I personally don't know just why Sesshomaru intends to kill Inuyasha, but that is all I have been told. The order has been issued that Inuyasha must be protected. We've been trying to follow him for many years now."

Kagome couldn't respond. She felt too devastated… too numb.

"Kagome, I'm going to ask you to do something for me."

"Yeah… what?" she asked wearily.

"I'm going to call you tonight, probably about nine o'clock – so make sure your phone is on silent mode. When I do, I want you to simply accept the call and then go about your business the same as usual. We'll record everything we hear, so try and engage Inuyasha in conversation about his brother – the older one."

Kagome rolled her eyes heavenward and let them flutter close. "Sure… I can do that." _And when Inuyasha discovers the police are recording his conversations, you will probably find my body floating down the river outside your station…_

Right then, Kagome decided that she didn't particularly want to talk to the ever so nice police officer. She just wanted to sit on the floor beside the bog and mope. "I think I hear him coming back, I'll have to go."

"Wait, Kagome-"

Kagome didn't wait. She hung up instantly and put her head in her hands, trying to sort out the chaos in her head.

Many things confused her… but the one thing that confused her most was why the police seemed so intent to protect Inuyasha. And just what on earth drove a brother to kill his younger siblings? That was _insane_…

But in this new, messed up world that Kagome was temporarily a part of, twisted scenarios and people were becoming the norm.

* * *

It was a nail-biting, gut-wrenching wait until the designated contact time. Kagome's mother had done little more than pace around the police station and accept the cups of tea that the officers occasionally handed to her.

But now, Mrs Higurashi anxiously chewed her lip as the clock ticked past nine o'clock and the ring tone of her daughter's phone rung out. She was perched on a seat beside the police constable in a small soundproof booth complete with recording equipment and two young police girls who operated the equipment. These girls were both so similar in their movements and even in the tone of their voices that Mrs Higurashi was almost willing to bet they were twins – though probably not of the identical kind.

At last, the ringing ended.

"She's accepted the call, sir." One of the girl's said in a monotone.

"Good work, Kochou." The constable looked to the second girl. "Start recording, Asuka."

"Yes, sir."

They all waited with baited breath, listening intently to the muffled sounds coming from the speakers of the recording equipment. There was a faint droning sound in the background, but just above that, the sound of shrill screaming could be heard.

"Oh… this is worrying…" Mrs Higurashi pressed her hands to her face. "I hope he's not doing anything terrible to her…!"

The constable leant forward towards the girls. "Kochou, see if you can trace the call exactly. I want her precise position wherever she is." he told her quietly.

"Yes, sir."

"He's probably torturing her… that fiend of a pirate…" Kagome's mother dropped her head into her hands.

* * *

It was just mindless torture. Kagome didn't know how much more she could handle.

Her hand started creeping towards the remote control….

"Don't you dare change the channel." Inuyasha pointed at her without tearing his gaze from the television set. "I'm enjoying this."

"How much enjoyment can one person possibly get from watching dinosaurs chomp on people?" Kagome retorted. "If I have to sit and watch another Jurassic Park movie, I swear I will-"

"Will what?" Inuyasha interrupted. "Do you remember our talk from earlier?"

Kagome was acutely aware of the mobile in her jacket. "You mean when you threatened to jam a fork in my throat if I ever contradicted you again?"

"Yes."

"…yes, I remember…"

"Good. Now take your hand away from the remote."

Kagome sighed loudly and let her hand fall back into her lap.

There was a phone in her pocket, and on the other end of the line were the police who were recording everything that she said to Inuyasha and everything Inuyasha said to her. Now if only she could get him talking… but he seemed way too busy watching dinosaur movies to bother with small talk and chit chat.

"So… uh… how far are we from the coast now?" She tried to get the ball rolling politely.

All she got was a shrug.

"Two days? One and a half?" she pressed. All she got was a glare. "Three?"

When he still didn't respond, she sighed again and shifted on the seat. It was time to bring out the big guns… metaphorically speaking, of course. "So… who is Sesshomaru?"

"New rule: Those who ask too many questions find themselves sleeping with the sharks." Inuyasha responded dryly.

Kagome pouted slightly. "I only wanted a little conversation…"

"Oh, just a little conversation about someone called Sesshomaru – he ranks right up there with other popular topics such as the weather and the latest films." Inuyasha glared directly at her, and the intensity made Kagome wish she could just turn into a puddle of water and slip overboard so he'd never be able to look at her directly again. "And how the fuck, may I ask, do you know about Sesshomaru?"

Kagome swallowed hard, her mind racing for the answers she'd prepared earlier. "That pirate that I was talking to before… what was his name… Miroku? Well, he told me about Sesshomaru… that he was a pirate, too."

"And what else do you know about Sesshomaru?"

Wasn't she supposed to be asking that question? "That… he's your brother…"

"_Half _brother."

The conversation lulled for a moment or two, and Kagome wondered if it was safe to push the subject further. "By… the same mother…?"

"Father." Inuyasha answered flatly, his attention fixed on the television screen.

"I see." Kagome nodded slowly. "And… do you see him very often? I mean, you're both in the same profession…"

"I doubt it." Inuyasha told her curtly. "He's our rival. I've never laid eyes on him before but I've been told he's bad news."

"So, you've never met him?" This was beyond milking him for information on behalf of the cops… this was her genuine interest to find out more about Ori's background.

"Never. He haunts the coast of Japan…" Inuyasha smirked. "If you're lucky, we may run across him in our travels."

Now there was a scary thought. Kagome pushed on, trying to get her mind back on her mission. "And by rival… you mean…?"

"Naraku's rival."

"Ah. Naraku. Your boss. The guy with the black hair and the creepy psycho voice." Kagome said loudly.

Inuyasha slanted her an odd look. "I smell a rat…"

Kagome jerked. "Oh, no… that's just the shark blood on my hands." She sniffed them. "See?"

Inuyasha just clicked his tongue irritably and tried to lean away from her.

Kagome began drumming her fingers on her knees. She had to keep going before her phone bill got too high. "So… what does he look like? Your brother, I mean."

"Like a drag queen."

"You mean… he's effeminate?"

"No, he's a fruitcake."

"Oh… that's helpful…"

Inuyasha gave another annoyed sigh. "What are all these questions for?"

Kagome shuffled her feet against the floor, glumly. "Because… because when Ori died-"

"Oh, not this crap again…"

"When Ori _died_," Kagome began again, firmly. "He told me that he'd met a pirate recently. I told him to prove it and he described him. Tall. White hair. Cold. Pretty. Pretty cold. And well… Ori always had this fascination with pirates-"

"Dweeb."

"You don't know him, so be quiet!" Kagome snapped. "And who are you to talk – you're a pirate yourself!"

"Get on with the bed time story already!" Inuyasha snapped back.

That almost made Kagome want to slap him. Almost. However, the threat of another fork in the neck was enough to keep her hands to herself. "As I was saying," she began slowly. "Ori always wanted to be a pirate – sucks that the evil twin got that wish granted instead. But I was a little suspicious of how some random pirate actually turned up to see Ori, and then a few days later the boy's house caught fire and everyone was killed."

"Are you saying a pirate killed your friend?" Inuyasha shrugged, apathetically.

"I'm saying I think your _half _brother killed your _twin _brother." Kagome watched him closely for a reaction.

She didn't even get so much as a twitch. "And now he's after me, don't you know?" Inuyasha said breezily.

"Is he now?" Kagome narrowed her eyes. "Why… why is your brother trying to pick off his siblings like that?"

He pulled a face. "You ask too many questions for your own good." he complained. "And the cutlery drawer is temptingly close."

"Damn you for stealing a western boat…" But even if he'd stolen a local boat, he probably would have simply threatened her with chopsticks instead.

"What makes you think I _stole _this boat." Inuyasha said, looking hurt and offended – although Kagome knew that it was all an act to mock her with. "I happened to have been given this boat as a birthday present."

"Right…" Kagome said in a slow voice, letting him know that she didn't believe a word of it. "And I suppose all the stuff you took from the people on my cruise were also complimentary birthday presents. Speaking of which – how long is it going to take to get me back to the coast?"

"Depends." He shrugged lazily. "How long does it take for you to sink to the bottom of the sea? I think it will be faster than taking you to the coast, don't you?"

Point taken. Kagome backed off a little. "Just checking…" she said, a little sullenly.

The credits began rolling on the TV screen. "Yeah, well don't. It pisses me off." Inuyasha punched the power button on the remote control and got up. "I'm going to bed." And off he mooched to the bathroom.

Kagome waited until the door was closed behind him and the muffled sound of running water started up, before reaching into her pocket and drawing the phone close to her ear. "_He's gone into the bathroom!" _she hissed quietly, feeling very 007-ish.

"You did good, Kagome." the officer on the other end told her. "Just make sure you don't stick your neck out too far for this, ok?"

But Kagome wasn't listening. Instead, she was concentrating more on the sound of banging cupboard doors in the bathroom. What was he doing in there…? Had he opened the hatch?

"Wait a second…" Kagome breathed into the phone and tiptoed towards the bathroom to listen at the door. All had gone very quiet.

Kagome managed to sum up the courage to call, "What are you doing in there?"

She heard an irritated groan. "Look, there's barely enough room to swing a cat, let alone spank a monkey, ok Princess? Quit checking up on me."

Kagome pulled a face as she peeled away from the door. "Well, _that _just set the bar for the rest of our conversations…"

* * *

AN: Hopefully there will be more chapters to come.


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